


Under the Spirits' Sky

by Gariell



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elemental Spirits, Battle Scenes, Element Manipulations, Fluff, High School, M/M, Romance, Spiritual Realm, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-04-08 00:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4283166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gariell/pseuds/Gariell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nanase Haruka, gifted with a water spirit, lived in seclusion with his grandmother from the judging society. After the death of his grandmother, Haruka found his life to be completely meaningless. </p><p>After Haruka met a certain green-eyed boy near the mountain waterfall and discovered a portal to a spiritual world from the pages of his grandmother's diary, he saw an opportunity to turn his life for the better.</p><p>Previously titled "School of Spirits".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Portal Behind the Waterfall

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a second MakoHaru multi-chapter fic. I was feeling like my other fic, _Happyville_ , might be a bit too heavy for me to dump some MakoHaru fluffs to satisfy my MakoHaru fangirl side, so this fic is written. It isn't exactly MakoHaru fluffs, of course, but at least it will definitely be lighter than my other fic.
> 
> Thank you for giving this fic a chance (since if you're reading this, means you've opened this fic), and I hope you will enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I hope you can share what you think about this particular one because it can be quite... 'bizarre'. I hope I will see you again in the next chapter.

Nanase Haruka possessed a spirit of water.

He remembered the first time he found out that he was extraordinary. It was back to his elementary school years. At the age of seven, he was invited by his grandmother to her room. It was a small, traditional tatami-based room with futon and abundant sheets of photographs holding precious memories throughout her long life. It was a cozy place where _kareishuu—_ a distinctive peculiar odor, or the smell of gaining years—lingered.

Young Haruka presented a polite bow to her in respect, before settling himself in front of her; palms relaxed on his thighs, which rested on his legs. His grandmother smiled at him, then pulled him into a warm, comfortable embrace, the kind he could only receive from a plump, warm and fragile body of a grandmother—all loving and didn't last very long.

“My dear child,” his grandmother's voice was serene, like gentle stream of a river, “are you aware that you have a gift of the water?”

At that time, Haruka probably felt like superheroes in the movies when they first discovered their superpowers. The kind of feelings where bewilderment and excitement mixed up and manifested to heroic acts and the townsfolk would go 'all-hail' to said superhero, with applauses, cheers, and fangirl screams.

“A gift of the water...?” Haruka echoed in a whisper of awe. He always thought that the water was alive, of course, and he enjoyed submerging himself in it, breathing under it.

“Are you aware that people can't normally breathe underwater?” His grandmother asked again, releasing her embrace.

“I thought some people can't, but others can do that. It's like swimming, Grandma. They learn.”

“Did you ever learn to breath underwater?” She gave him a merry grin, her eyes crinkled.

“No, Grandma. It's like breathing air. I never learn how to do it.” Haruka was immersed in the gentle, lively blue eyes belonged to his grandmother.

“That's it. You are gifted, my child. Just like your mother and I are gifted.”

At the mention of his mother, Haruka squirmed in his sitting position. When Haruka was only four years old, his mother and father had gone out for a romantic dinner, leaving Haruka in the care of his grandmother. He'd waited and waited for them to come home, fighting his eyes not to droop down and holding his consciousness as tightly as possible. It was past twelve at midnight and his parents hadn't come home.

They never came home. It was like they had vanished into thin air, drifting away like candle smoke. They left no trace, not even a lingering presence or smell could be detected. He was left with his grandmother, and Haruka eventually grew a special love for his grandmother—probably he loved her better than his parents.

Haruka's blue eyes blinked. They were like a pair of pearls painted in a rich, vivid color of the sunlit ocean—beautiful eyes inherited from his mother, and grandmother. “Does that mean I can be a superhero?” He asked with the innocence of a child, with sparkles visible in his eyes.

Her wrinkled mouth broke into soft laughter. “It depends, Haruka-chan, but I asked you to come here for a purpose. I have to inform why you're restricted with our rules. It's because you're specially gifted and not all people will just accept us for who we are. Remember our rules of treating water?”

“Don't stay underwater for more than a minute.” Haruka lifted his right index finger, “Don't play with water more than appropriate.” By appropriate, it meant Haruka shouldn't try to control the water and let it do what it wanted to do. “Don't try to merge with the water because the water and I are two different individuals.” That's the third one, even though Haruka considered merging as something impossible for him to do. Finally he said the fourth one, “Do not waste the water.”

“Smart boy. Keep it that way until you become ordinary. Tell me what I've said about becoming ordinary.”

“When you are ten, they call you a prodigy. When you are fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit seventeen, you're just an ordinary person.”

:-:

Nine years later, his grandmother died.

There was no proper funeral. Nobody paid such respect to his grandmother except for Haruka himself. His family had always been shut out by the society. People had been spreading rumors about them involved in forbidden practices of witchcrafts. Haruka often thought of why did he still have to pretend he's ordinary when he was clearly not, since people had known about it anyway?

Haruka wasn't as innocent as before. He knew what he possessed wasn't a gift like what his grandmother had told him. It must be a curse.

After digging up his grandmother's grave in the backyard of the house and carefully positioning her inside a coffin he'd bought, he sealed the coffin shut and did the most respectful burial he could manage.

Before his grandmother passed away, she gave him an old book—a diary, locked with a tiny silver key. Only when Haruka had reached, or nearly reached seventeen, he would be allowed to open her diary and read it. _Because,_ his grandmother had told him, _there's an important secret inside._

Throughout the years, Haruka's water spirit grew even stronger. In fact, he was even pushed far away from the term 'ordinary'. An old saying of his grandmother didn't apply itself as truth. At the age of sixteen, Haruka could shape and form pretty much anything with water, easily sculpting them like mold. If he tried hard enough, Haruka was almost sure he could merge himself with the water and flow along the river, losing himself forever in the limitless water. That sounded nice, but he was too curious about the secret of his grandmother's diary to disappear in the ocean.

His days were boring. Submerging himself for hours in the water, sculpting more and more water furnitures, painting, cooking, reading old books that bore him to slumber, grilling and eating mackerel, wasting the money he inherited from his family, repeat. Each day he hoped that he could experience somnolence, so he could waste away without dealing with meaningless monotony. He couldn't even apply for high school, let alone work. Not with people sneering at, gossiping and calling him names. He had neither friends nor families.

Haruka could sell his paintings for money, but who in this small town wanted to take 'cursed' or 'enchanted' paintings—the ones made by a warlock or wizard?

_Stupid people,_ Haruka thought, _spreading rumors when they don't know the actual truth. When I no longer have money left, that's it. I'm going to waste my life in the ocean._

He couldn't be sure whether he should be grateful or not, because when it was only half a month away from his seventeenth birthday, he still had plenty of money for him to spend. That meant he could live longer before wasting his life to the sea, but the life he had at the moment was not at all meaningful.

So what's the point?

Haruka found himself couldn't wait any longer. His grandmother had said that when he nearly reached seventeen, he could open the diary and quench his curiosity. On his futon, inside a room casted with moonlight, Haruka unlocked his grandmother's diary.

He was reading it thoroughly, finding himself getting more sleepy by each word in the diary that registered to his mind. Nothing out of ordinary. The diary told the story of his grandmother when she was young—falling in love for the first time, getting married, having a daughter, having him as a grandson. Despite his sleepiness, Haruka was smiling from time to time when he read it. The diary made him feel like his grandmother was still alive, sitting beside him, telling him stories of her younger years.

His drowsiness drifted away the moment he turned the next page.

 

_'Dear Haruka-chan,_

_By the time you're reading this, I have probably left this world, and you are dealing with loneliness. I am crying as I write this, Haruka-chan, because it pains me when I think of you being alone, scorned by the people of our hometown. That is why, I want to give you a chance for happiness. I want to give you a new home._

_There is a secret place behind the waterfall on the mountain near our house._

_I do not know if you're still willing to trust me, but just this time, please trust your grandmother, Haruka-chan. I want you to leave your house, leave my grave, leave everything away. Take whatever you need to take, but just leave the rest._

_Climb the mountain. I have prepared a map for you in this diary. Keep going, until you find a waterfall. I'm sure you will know that is the one, because that waterfall will impress you with its beauty. Visit the back of the waterfall at night time, Haruka-chan. You will find a cave inside._

_I have written what the most essential things you have to prepare at the back of the map, along with an instruction about what you should do behind the cave._

_This is my last resort to grant you a place you can call home. Grandma loves you.'_

 

Haruka immediately turned the pages until he found a hand-drawn map. With teary-eyes, he curled up a smile.

:-:

He saw the waterfall.

It took him a full day of searching and climbing, avoiding snakes, and stumbling upon overgrown plants. All the fuss, heat, and fatigue were no longer bothering him when Haruka spotted the waterfall. His lips broke to form a nearly perfect 'o' as he watched the waterfall in awe.

The water was pristine and sparkling under the moonlight, positively vibrant, falling with all its might and crashing to the water below. It created endless, powerful white splashes at the bottom of it, where the river flowed in steady stream.

Haruka was practically calling the waterfall his first love encounter. Forget about the uninteresting cave behind it—he would be happy to merge himself with this waterfall, disappearing forever.

His ocean blue eyes were too transfixed at its beauty that it took him quite a while to notice that someone was kneeling on the ground beside the waterfall. It was a boy, seemingly having the same age as Haruka. The moonlight shone on him, revealing strands of brown hair—wait, it was olive brown, Haruka's keen eyes decided. He could still differentiate color details even only with the help of moonlight. The boy's hands were clasped together in front of his chest, his eyes closed. It looked like he was praying, seized by tranquility.

The moment Haruka noticed the boy, the waterfall was almost forgotten. He was mesmerized by the sight in front of him. The boy was gorgeous—almost ethereal. He doubted that he was seeing an ordinary human being. The brunet was probably an angel in disguise. There was a breathtaking aura emanating from him.

Something clicked inside his mind.

The boy probably possessed a spirit belonged to the sky—unreachable, distant, ethereal. That was the only explanation. His grandmother had taught him that gifts of the spirits weren't only from the water. Haruka blinked slowly, several times, making sure that what he was seeing was real.

After the fourth blink, the brunet was no longer there.

_Did he just... dissolve and merge with the air? Or was I seeing a mirage?_

Haruka let out a deep breath. _Forget it._

He walked toward the place where the mysterious boy had vanished, bathing himself with a cast of moonlight. He could see large rocks lined up to form a path to the back of the waterfall. Thankfully, Haruka didn't have to charge the waterfall directly with his body, although it wasn't a big deal for him. He carefully made his way to the back of the waterfall, climbing and stepping on the large, solid rocks, although they were damp and a bit slippery.

He had expected to see a dark cave with no light, but he was taken aback when he saw torches were arranged at both sides of the cave, all lit up and the flames burned brightly. However, he could see the inside of the caves only for several meters away, where the area was illuminated by torches. The rest of the cave was impossible to look through. Complete darkness welcomed him at the end of the last pair of torches. Haruka couldn't guess what he would find in that kind of darkness—seemingly void and abyss—it felt like once he'd entered the dark, it was impossible for him to see the light again.

With no intention to explore further, Haruka decided that where he was standing right now should be the place for him to perform the peculiar things he had to do, just like his grandmother taught him from her diary. Haruka crouched down, releasing the sling bag from his shoulder and put it beside him. He pulled the zip down and fished out a glass bowl.

Leaving his stuffs for a while, Haruka brought the glass bowl with him and walked back toward the waterfall. He stretched out both his hands that were clutching on the bowl toward the waterfall, filling the bowl with hard splashes of water. He turned back to his previous place and kneeled down, placing the bowl in front of him.

Haruka clapped his hands several times, palms rested against each other. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. “Spirit of water who occupies my being, I am Nanase Haruka. With the purest water I could manage to take, I request your permission to give me a key to unlock your natural realm.”

He was silent for a full minute, expecting something sparkling around him, or personified water engulfing his body, or most preferably a magical door to another world appearing in front of him, whatever it was beside nothingness. Yet it was nothingness that answered his peculiar words and awkwardly performed ritual.

“Hello.”

Now this was least unexpected. A simple _hello_ , but it was still better than nothingness. Was the personified water trying to talk to him? What should be his answer? _Hello? Nice to meet you?_

“Um... can you hear me?” The voice was heard from behind him.

Haruka's eyes swiftly opened up and he did a quick turn of his head, a bit too hasty that his neck ached. He saw a boy—the same brunet with olive brown hair who was praying beside the waterfall. Now he was standing behind him, giving him the gentlest smile he'd ever seen. Finally, Haruka could see his eyes clearly. They were green—bright, lively green, like young leaves washed with the richness of sunshine. Those eyes were gorgeous, a perfect color to his whole feature, especially that rare color of olive brown hair.

“Are you Nanase Haruka?” He asked again with soft voice.

“Yes.” Haruka answered hesitantly. His presence seemed so odd, but comforting at the same time. He clearly didn't expect another person to approach him in a place like this.

“May I join you?”

Now that's odd, but then Haruka remembered that this boy was praying as well.

“I'm...” Haruka really didn't know how to answer. He couldn't tell him that he was currently trying to perform a stupid ritual to open up a door to another world or whatever it was. “I need to concentrate, so please leave me alone.”

He didn't leave or utter an apology. Instead, the brunet laughed.

He _laughed._

Haruka gritted his teeth in annoyance, jerking his head away. He shut his eyes again in front of his water bowl and started to clap his hands several times. Five times, to be exact. He could feel this green-eyed boy lingered beside him. When Haruka opened his eyes a little to pay a glance, the brunet had kneeled beside him, palms lightly touched against each other, his green eyes closed in serenity.

“Spirit of water who occupies his being, he is Nanase Haruka.” He said, “With the purest water he has managed to take, I request a key for him to unlock your natural realm.”

Was it just his imagination, or the waterfall seemed to sound more quiet like the stream had slowed down?

“I am Tachibana Makoto.” He continued, as if answering a mute question. In that moment of prayer, Haruka was once again nearly convinced this green-eyed boy was too ethereal to be human being. “The earth spirit who occupies my being, I declared my life spared by the spirit of the sky, and I request a key to unlock and enter your natural realm.”

In an instant, Haruka was deaf.

He couldn't hear a thing. It felt like he was trapped in time. Everything felt empty, void, like his spirit was in-between his world and another world—cramped in their clashing.

A hand was outstretched to him, and Haruka took it, squeezed it for dear life. Then, his body was pulled with an unnatural force. Haruka had stood up, and the boy pulled him toward the moving waterfall, crashing onto the droplets of water that fell in slow, unnaturally smooth motion.

With eyes opened wide, he saw a vision of pure water framing and falling like the insides of waterfall, lasted for a split second.

And then, he was no longer deaf, his body was soaked, falling and crashing to a shallow water. The sound of gentle stream of water filled his ears. The moment Haruka opened his eyes, he wasn't near the waterfall or even on the mountain. It was a completely different sight—a moonlit park, and he was lying on his palms and knees in the shallow water under a fountain.

“Nanase Haruka, welcome to the garden of Iwatobi Academy.”

The voice of the boy—no, his name was Tachibana Makoto—entered his ears. When Haruka looked up, Makoto was sitting at the edge of the fountain, giving him a bright, amiable smile. His body was also soaked.

“Mako-chan, who is this?”

Haruka turned his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. There was no one in sight, except Makoto who had lifted his chin up toward the sky. Haruka slowly looked up, following Makoto's gaze.

There was a blond boy flying in the air, watching Haruka with magenta eyes that seemed to be sparkling. The flying boy was eyeing Haruka like he was some sort of a new species, which was ironic, because for Haruka, it was _he_ who was seeing a new species.

Because, really, this boy was _frickin' flying—_ hanging in the air with thick blond hair whiffed in every direction, like it was blown by wind.

Wind, that's it. This boy must had a wind spirit. He wasn't really flying—he was supported by an almost visible gust of wind who lifted him airborne.

“Come down here, Nagisa. It's inappropriate.” Makoto said, heaving a sigh.

When the blond boy's body slowly descended to the ground, Haruka could feel a gust of wind crashed to his body, seemingly blowing up from under the boy's feet. After his feet reached the ground, the wind started to drift away until the air was still.

“ _Ne,_ what's your elemental spirit?” The blonde pranced toward Haruka, looking overly excited. He was wearing a white shirt with short sleeves, red dotted necktie, and gray trousers. Haruka could see a bird-like symbol at his pocket, and he assumed he was wearing a school uniform. “My name's Hazuki Nagisa! Are you a new student? Welcome to Iwatobi Academy!”

Haruka stared blankly at them. A windy blonde and an ethereal—or earthy—brunet, he couldn't be so sure, but he was sure that in this world, he had finally become ordinary.

Nanase Haruka hadn't even reached seventeen.

 


	2. The Night of Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you for your comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks!  
> Usually in my hands, the newest fic will get the fastest update for a while, so here's chapter 2. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Haruka walked steadily over the brick path, following the two boys in front of him. While he really wanted to admire the beauty of the garden, he couldn't take his eyes off Makoto's back. Why would someone look around a garden when there was an ethereal person in front of him? Makoto's body was broad and well-muscled, but strangely, it seemed very light.

On the other hand, Hazuki Nagisa was very obviously smaller than him. His body moved in an airy, swift motion, like he could easily fly at any time. If Haruka didn't know better, he would have thought that they were walking on air rather than solid pathway. Maybe all of these should be expected from people who possessed the spirit of sky and wind, Haruka concluded. He'd never met another person like him before, so he assumed that there was still so much for him to learn.

Before Haruka could contemplate any further, Nagisa suddenly turned to him. “So, Nanase-kun, you have the water spirit inside you? That's so cool!” Nagisa slowed down his pace, adjusting himself at Haruka's right side. “Tell me, what can you do with water?”

Haruka was silent for a while. He'd never had someone who was curious about what he was capable to do. The people around him had shut him out before they even saw him doing anything with water, really. That's just how cruel the society could be. Yet this particular blond boy seemed genuinely curious.

“I'm curious as well.” Still walking, Makoto turned his head back to him, smiling pleasantly. His sunshine-washed green eyes shimmered under the moonlight, making him look even more like a being belonged to the sky.

“I can shape water.” Haruka finally said, “And keep it that way in place, and breathing underwater. I guess that's it.”

“Sounds cool! Mako-chan, do you think he can pass the test?” Nagisa shifted his attention away to Makoto.

“Test...?” Although he didn't want to admit it, Haruka felt some kind of insecurity constricted his chest.

“The entrance test.” Makoto answered, slowing down his pace so he could walk at Haruka's left side. “Well, because this school doesn't just accept any people, you know, even those gifted with spirits. Iwatobi Academy has its own standards. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you can manage.” Makoto smiled at him, trying to give him assurance and comfort. Somehow, Haruka was convinced. _Almost._

“That's true, Nanase-kun. No need to worry about anything. You can trust Mako-chan.” Nagisa smiled brightly at him. These two people smiled so much. Haruka made a guess that they had no worries in life. That was probably the case, though. Haruka was pretty unfortunate, living in rejection of his own hometown, with no families and friends. If it wasn't for his grandmother, Haruka would 'commit suicide' by wasting himself away in the ocean.

“What's the test?” Haruka was curious. With a silent agreement with his own self, he'd decided that he wanted to stay in this place. At least it was beautiful. At least there were two people who were willing to smile at him—and probably become his friends. That should be enough for him to make his decision.

“You'll know soon enough. A lot of students have claimed that it's a memorable one. Also, it strengthens the bonds you have with the leaders, too.” Makoto answered.

“Leaders?”

Nagisa grinned, then winked at him. “Your will do your tests with both the leaders of two factions of Iwatobi Academy. It's some sort of a tradition.”

Haruka was silent, waiting for further explanation. However, instead of explaining, Makoto slowed his pace down even more, until he stopped beside a boxed flowers lining up along their pathway. “Excuse me.” He said. Haruka didn't know if he was talking with him and Nagisa, or the flowers beside him. Talking to flowers sounded stupid, though.

The blue-eyed teen gave him a blank look the moment Makoto crouched down in front of the boxed flowers. So he _did_ talk to the flowers?

“What's wrong, Mako-chan?” Nagisa stopped his pace, making his way back toward Makoto.

“These poor creatures are sick.” Makoto sighed, lightly rubbing a wilted, brownish white petal of one of the flowers. The flowers around that particular one were also withering. “I wonder why.”

Haruka positioned himself beside Makoto, looking at the brunet with interest. Makoto ran his palm along the sick flowers until he lifted his palm up. He slowly stood up. “Let's go. Come on, Nanase-kun, Nagisa.” Makoto walked in front of them without looking back.

Nagisa whispered to Haruka's ear, “I will go with Mako-chan. You may stay here and look what Mako-chan had done to the flowers.” He winked, then he ran lightly toward Makoto. Haruka immediately turned his attention back to the flowers.

The flowers were all in full bloom, standing straight, as healthy as ever. There were no traces of sick flowers like he'd seen just seconds ago. He'd heard from his grandmother about the earth spirit having the capability to heal, just like water. Haruka couldn't do any healing yet, though. He suddenly remembered Makoto's prayer before they entered this realm.

_'The earth spirit who occupies my being.'_

He wondered if it's possible to be gifted with two spirits at once.

:-:

The building in front of him was probably more like a small palace rather than school. There were several buildings, all exquisitely designed for luxury. The one in front of Haruka stood in the middle, several meters away in front of a giant circular fountain of the front garden. It was a much bigger fountain than the one on the back garden, with red brick paths around it, and various kinds of vegetations and colorful flowers at the sides of the circular path. Haruka could see enormous gates stood firmly in the distance, at the end of the front garden, across the giant fountain and the building near him.

Haruka's eyes were absorbing all the sights the moment he entered the building. The corridors were like the ones he often pictured in a palace—marble floors with expensive carpets, several potted plants at the sides, large pillars, with all the chandeliers that made them shine in golden. There were large portraits of people Haruka didn't know (and didn't really care) on the walls of the corridors. They stopped in front of an elegantly designed large double doors. Makoto politely knocked on them. When they heard a faint 'come in' from behind the doors, Makoto carefully pushed a door open.

A man was sitting in the middle of the room, behind a large, expensive looking wooden desk. His elbows relaxed on top of it, chin rested on the back of his hand.

Makoto gave him a polite bow before making a way for Haruka and Nagisa to enter. Haruka modestly entered, bowing in full respect to the man in front of him, just like how he bowed to his grandmother. Nagisa did the same before positioning himself beside Makoto. Haruka carefully looked around. It must be the headmaster's office, with all the trophies and honorary awards displayed in large cabinets and large amount of books pushed together in tall bookshelves.

The man had dark brown hair and a pair of eyes with the same color. He seemed to be in his early forties. His smile was amiable. Haruka found himself suddenly relaxed under the gentle gaze of the man.

“Nanase-kun, he's the headmaster of this school. Also, he's my father.”

Haruka's heart went faster. The headmaster of this school and Makoto's father. He really didn't know why him being Makoto's father mattered, though. He did radiate a relaxing aura just like his son, but there was a difference. He was not at all ethereal. In fact, the aura he felt from this man spoke all steadiness and solidity. He seemed like the kind of man who would never leave you without you knowing. He made his presence strong, like it was firmly rooted to whatever ground he was standing or sitting on.

“Nanase Haruka-kun, we've been waiting for you. I am Tachibana Akihiko.” The man slowly stood up, smiling at him. The smile was not as gentle as his son's. Makoto's smile was probably inherited from his mother, then. He wondered what Makoto's mother would look like. Judging from his father's hair, he could guess that Makoto's mother probably had an olive-colored hair, that gave her son the color of olive-brown as combination.

Haruka closed his eyes for a while. His mind wandered a little bit too far than necessary. “Waiting...?” Haruka carefully asked.

“That's true. In fact, my son Makoto has been waiting for you near the waterfall every night since the first date of June.”

Haruka's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't imagine Makoto would be that patient, spending his time every night on the mountain near the waterfall, waiting for someone he'd never met before. It just seemed unnecessary, if not stupid—or extremely patient.

“Daad, you don't need to tell him that.” Makoto fidgeted uncomfortably in his position. There's a slight blush on his cheek.

“Makoto had been a little bit too enthusiastic, Haruka-kun.” His father smiled playfully, “He couldn't wait to see who's this 'Nanase Haruka'. Before we talk further, please sit down.” He gestured to a comfortable looking single couch in front of his desk.

After Haruka made his way to sit down, Makoto's father sat back on his seat and continued, “Your arrival has been expected since the first date of June. That's why I sent my son to your world to pick you up. Your grandmother had prepared all the necessary things regarding your application to this school since a year ago. We will happily accept you, Haruka-kun, but rules are rules. They are meant to be obeyed. You have to pass the entrance test. Your grandmother said that you'll be ready for the test by the time you're seventeen, or nearly reach seventeen. So, Haruka-kun, do you want to do the entrance test as soon as possible?”

Haruka immediately nodded. He didn't want to waste his life away anymore. The sooner the better. His life had been so empty and full of monotony, anyway. He could finally experience school life with people with the same gifts as him.

“That's the spirit. I can arrange the test to be held tomorrow. It will be open for public, so I hope you don't mind other students' attention.”

“I don't mind.” Haruka lied. Of course he minded. He hated being watched. He had always wanted to keep himself away from the crowd as far as possible.

“I hope you're telling the truth. Even if you don't, we can't make the test private. It's been a tradition. Every student has experienced the same test. Now, I bet you're curious about what the entrance test will be like?” Akihiko's brown eyes gazed into him. Haruka didn't know why, but his soul felt strangely naked. Could this man read him like a book?

Trying to ignore the strange feelings he got from this man, Haruka nodded. He was indeed curious, from the very first time the test was mentioned by Nagisa.

“Let me explain. The student body of Iwatobi Academy has two proud factions. The Samezuka faction, and Iwatobi faction. They even have different uniforms. Iwatobi faction is indeed the oldest faction, judging from the name, but it's been generations since Samezuka faction proves itself as a really strong, elite group. I'm not saying Iwatobi faction is worse, of course. It is just as strong, yet not very popular these days. Let's just say that Samezuka faction is more modern and stylish, and Iwatobi faction sticks itself to the old traditional way. You can guess already which one's more popular among the students.

“Now, Haruka-kun, you are free to choose which faction you want to join, but only if you pass both the first stages of your entrance test. Your test tomorrow is to face the leaders of both factions as your opponents. No need to guess, yes, you're going to a battle arena, with other students as your audience. You may use the gift of the spirit to defeat your opponent, of course. If this makes you feel better, I have to inform that you're even allowed to use the help of the audience, if you can convince them to help you.”

Haruka didn't realize that his jaw had dropped, yet his eyes were still half-closed, composing a blank, sleepy expression. _A battle._ He couldn't imagine using his water spirit in a battle. What could he do? Sculpt a mackerel made of water and threw it to his opponent's face?

“After you have finished the battle, both leaders of the two factions will determine if they will accept you in their factions. If both leaders accept you, you are free to choose which faction you want to join. If one of the leaders doesn't accept you in his faction, you have no choice but to join the other's faction. If both leaders don't accept you in their factions, I am sorry to say that you don't pass the entrance test, therefore you have to leave, Haruka-kun.”

 _You've got to be kidding me,_ Haruka thought, keeping his expression nonchalant.

“If you're also curious, the Samezuka faction is led by a man gifted with two spirits, Mikoshiba Seijuurou. The Iwatobi faction is led by no other than my own son,” Akihiko smiled pridefully, “Tachibana Makoto.”

 _What a small world_ , Haruka thought. He didn't know if he should be grateful by that information or not. He couldn't ignore Makoto's ethereal presence. How did he fight an ethereal being, anyway? Fighting the sky spirit with water? Didn't that scream impossibility? Makoto seemed too kind to reject anyone, but...

Haruka turned his head a little. Makoto was standing a meter away behind him, tilting his head while flashing a cheerful smile. So adorable, so convincing, but Haruka knew he shouldn't underestimate him. He wouldn't be surprised if Makoto flashed that same smile while announcing a humiliating rejection to Haruka's request to join his faction, not to forget in front of all students.

He thought he'd experienced the worst rejection possible, but now he couldn't tell if Makoto's rejection would be the worst ever.

“Now I hope you will prepare yourself, Haruka-kun. Just relax and be yourself. Trust your own spirit. It is a valuable gift. If you pass your test tomorrow, I'm pretty sure you will pass the rest of the tests.”

“Yessir...” Haruka replied weakly, already feeling a little sick in his stomach.

“Well, I bet you must be exhausted. We've prepared a room for you. Do you mind if you have to share a room with another student?”

Haruka never imagined living with another person beside his family. It must be awkward, sharing a life with a person he'd never known before, but he couldn't ask more. Not from people who were willing to give him a place to stay. He had no other choice. He would most likely ignore the person he's sharing the room with, after all.

Well, if he had to share his room with Makoto, perhaps he wouldn't really mind. Why, though? Haruka couldn't really answer. He assumed that was because he felt Makoto's presence to be comforting and didn't bother him that much, but that should be all, really.

Haruka shook his head. “No, sir.” He lied. If it was Makoto, then he was honest. Everything depended on who.

“That's great. Here's your room key.” Akihiko lifted up an ordinary-looking silver key. “Your roommate is Ryuugazaki Rei. He's a first-year. Polite and well-mannered. He's also very helpful, so I'm sure you two can share benefits. He appreciates beauty.” Akihiko showed him a meaningful smile that Haruka couldn't interpret. “You will get to know each other better.”

“Thank you, sir.” He didn't know why, but there was a feel of disappointment in his chest.

“Makoto, escort him to his room. Nagisa, go back to your dorm. It's already late.” Makoto's father ordered with a new voice of authority. “Now.”

“Yessir.” Both Makoto and Nagisa bowed low, then Nagisa quickly made his way outside.

Makoto approached Haruka, standing beside him. “Let's go, Nanase-kun.”

:-:

Much to Haruka's satisfaction, the room was definitely cozy and the bed gave him all the comforts he needed. There were two beds, of course, and he didn't know which one belonged to his new roommate. He hadn't met Ryuugazaki yet. His roommate was still out, and Makoto had given him an unnecessary little speech about how bad it was to break curfew hours when he found out Ryuugazaki Rei wasn't inside his room. Makoto did talk a lot, but Haruka found out that he didn't mind that fact at all. In all honesty, he liked hearing Makoto's voice.

Makoto was still standing outside Haruka's room, sulking with arms crossed in front of his chest. He said that he would wait for Ryuugazaki Rei to come back and probably give him a little punishment if he ended up breaking the curfew, which would be over in seven minutes.

Haruka used the time to explore the room further. There was a potted green plant just beside the window, which was covered with emerald green curtains. He found a wooden study desk in front of the beds, stacked with various books—science and science fictions, to be exact. Haruka didn't really care about the room. All that mattered to him was the bathroom. Without looking further, he slammed the bathroom door opened. To his delight, the bathroom was quite big. A large circular-shaped white bathtub was there at the corner of the brightly lit room. At the other side of the corner stood a curvy shower box, with white, clean closet two meters away in front of it. A long marble sink with mirrors was installed across the closet.

The moment he saw the bathtub, Haruka didn't want to do any other thing except bathing.

“Rei, where have you been?” Makoto's voice seized his attention. Sweet, calm, and collected, yet threatening at the same time.

“Makoto-senpai! I'm sorry! I haven't broken the curfew, it's still a minute and twenty-three seconds away!” An unfamiliar voice was heard. Haruka assumed it must be Ryuugazaki. He sighed, reluctantly walking outside to see his new roommate.

Ryuugazaki Rei wore red-framed glasses that somehow suited him well. His eyes were a beautiful shade of purple. While Haruka's hair was also blue, he had a very dark blue hair that it was almost black. Rei, however, had a lighter color of blue compared to Haruka. In an instant, Haruka could feel an electrifying aura coming out from Rei.

 _Electric,_ he thought, _his element is probably electric—thunder, perhaps? Is there such a thing as a thunder spirit?_

Makoto sighed. “Fine, go inside. Next time, you should check your watch more often. I know I shouldn't be the one to talk, but really, Rei. My father can't tolerate students breaking curfew.”

“I will remember that, Makoto-senpai.” Rei adjusted his red glasses.

“And, Rei, today you will have a new roommate. I have already informed you about this, right? Nanase-kun.” Makoto turned to him with a sweet smile, “This is Ryuugazaki Rei.”

“Nice to meet you, Nanase Haruka-san.” Rei bowed a little, pushing his glasses again. “I've been informed about your arrival since a month ago. Makoto-senpai had been waiting every day for you to come, in fact.”

“Putting that aside.” Makoto quickly said, “Rei, Nanase-kun possessed the water spirit. Nanase-kun, Rei has—“

“Thunder spirit?” Haruka suggested, “Or is it electric?”

Makoto's mouth parted open as he was completely taken aback. “How...?”

“'How' what?”

“How do you know?” Makoto's green eyes stared at him in bewilderment.

“He's emanating an electrifying aura.” Haruka said, “Just like you, Tachibana. You're a little bit too airy for your size, but also solid at the same time.” Haruka wouldn't say the word 'ethereal', “Your aura practically screams sky and earth spirits. If you think that makes no sense, stop asking.”

While Makoto's jaw dropped lower, Rei stared at him almost the same way as Nagisa's: like he was seeing some kind of a new species.

What's wrong with these people, really? Perhaps Haruka should check himself in front of the mirror, making sure he hadn't grown a fin or fish scale.

After several seconds, Makoto blinked his eyes, too many times than necessary. “What do you mean, aura? Are you saying that you can feel auras emanating from us?”

“Isn't that normal...?” Haruka's voice lowered, “The spirits inside you guys are all strong, so I can simply feel them.”

“This is impressive.” Rei pushed his glasses to his eyes again. Haruka was hoping that his habit of adjusting his spectacles wouldn't be too annoying. “I've never known a person with the ability to tell spirits inside people by simply 'feeling', let alone reading auras. And what do you mean, Nanase-san, when you said Makoto-senpai has a sky spirit?”

“Nanase-kun!” Makoto suddenly grabbed Haruka's wrist, “W-we have to talk! This is i-important! I'm sorry, Rei! I'm borrowing your new roommate for a while!” He frantically dragged Haruka out of the room.

:-:

“I've never heard about someone having the capability to feel the spirit's aura.” Makoto explained to him as his rested his back on the wall of the corridor.

Haruka was silent. Despite the nonchalant expression pasted on his face, he listened to Makoto's every word intently.

“I mean, maybe some people can sense if there's a free spirit wandering around, but you can't simply sense an aura coming from the spirits that have occupied a person, let alone telling what kind of spirits are inside him or her. You're the first person who can sense them so easily, Nanase-kun.” He eyed Haruka with glimmering, admiring green eyes.

“Really...?”

“Yeah.” Makoto nodded, smiling gently at him, “It must be another gift you have, Nanase-kun.”

This time, he didn't feel like superheroes in the movies when they first discovered their superpowers. This time, Haruka felt like an unfortunate teen boy who found out that the girl he'd just kissed was pregnant with his baby.

“To be honest,” Makoto continued, seemingly oblivious to the faint shadow crossing Haruka's face, “nobody except my family and a friend of mine knows about me possessing the sky spirit. Everyone thinks I have only the earth spirit inside me. If I may request your help, Nanase-kun, please don't tell anyone else about it.”

 _Oh great,_ Haruka thought, _I haven't been here for more than one night and now I have to keep an important, sensitive secret of the principal's son._

Makoto's ethereal presence was the first thing that Haruka noticed the moment he saw the brunet. It was hard for Haruka to imagine that anybody couldn't sense it. Finally, Haruka looked up, gazing at Makoto straight to his eyes. “Why?”

“I'm sorry. It's something I can't tell you.”

_And of course, a new mystery to color my boring life._

“I guess that's it. I'm sorry for keeping you away from your bath.” Makoto tilted his head a little while keeping his smile gentle, “I'll see you tomorrow on the arena.”

After Makoto said his good-night and waved, he left Haruka alone in the corridor.

Haruka took a deep breath before entering his room. Today was a bit exhausting. Too much new things, including problems, were stuffed with force inside his already sleepy head. When Haruka closed the door behind him, he saw Rei standing by the window, its green curtains were slid opened. The guy seemed to be staring into the distance outside the window, and Haruka decided to just leave him alone.

That particular night, Haruka found himself thinking about Makoto's spirits. Sky and earth. Perhaps that was why Makoto's presence felt so odd the first time he approached Haruka. They were two spirits that shouldn't be merged. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the sky and earth collided. They were contradictory.

Impossible.

If Makoto didn't tell him directly, Haruka would doubt his own sense, but it was confirmed that Makoto was indeed a contradictory mess.

 _None of my business,_ he thought. With all the worries about tomorrow and the wonders about everything, Haruka fell in a deep sleep. He was dreaming about rejection. Makoto rejected him in front of everybody, smiling apologetically.

Haruka hated that smile.

 _“I'm sorry, Haru,”_ Makoto said to him in his dreams, with head tilted down and droopy green eyes closed, _“good bye.”_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think this chapter might be a bit slow-paced, I'm sorry. I decided 'Akihiko' to be the name for Makoto's father. I just think it kinda suits him, although it's a bit random as well. A lot of things had to be informed, since Haruka was still new to the Academy, but I will try to suppress the informations and explained them bit by bit while the story flows so it won't be overwhelming. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I would love to hear your opinion about this chapter or this fic so far. Thank you for reading and see you again.
> 
> Warm regards,
> 
> Gariell


	3. The Wolf Who Howled to the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks! I don't know how to express my thank you except by saying (or writing) it and trying to write better.
> 
> Here's chapter 3. Perhaps I will refocus on my other fics after this, or I will continue this immediately, I haven't decided yet. I hope you enjoy it.

“Spirit of water who occupies my being,” Haruka whispered, “I am Nanase Haruka.”

While he was engrossed in his own serenity, an image unveiled itself in his undisturbed mind. An image of personified water—pure, colorless, beautiful.

_Alive._

“We accept one another. I am you, and you are me. We are water.”

In an abrupt gap between one second and another, Haruka was one with the water. The transition sent an alarming shock through his being, and his eyes immediately snapped wide open. He was himself again, in his solid body.

_Drip. Drip._

When his pair of ocean blue eyes shifted down, a crystal clear liquid framed his vision before falling down to the ground in a droplet. When Haruka looked up to the sky, he found out that the water vapor in the clouds were condensing to a drizzle.

In his isolation, Haruka had plenty of time to learn from his grandmother. This was one of them. When he was young, he never thought he would be able to actually do it. Then again, if his grandmother could, he could. This was what he'd always wanted to do, after all.

 _One more time,_ he told himself, _or a lot more times. Until I am ready._

It was still five in the morning on the day of his entrance exam. It was the day to determine whether he had the opportunity to change his fate, or not.

 _Tachibana Makoto,_ Haruka thought as he closed his eyes again, clasping his hands together in front of his chest, _I will defeat you._

Earth might be the strongest element, solid and strong, but who cares?

Water would win.

:-:

“What do you mean, Makoto?”

Makoto opened up his leaf-green eyes, yet they were still hesitant to roll up. “It can't be helped.” He took a deep breath, “It's no big deal. Nanase-kun is trustworthy.”

“And how the hell do you know?” The voice was gruff and annoyed.

“Nanase-kun comes from the other world.” Makoto finally braced himself to face the person in front of him, “He won't do harm.”

“Shut up.” The man in front of him sighed, lightly clutching some strands of his black hair, “Your naivete can bring destruction, Makoto.”

“I know, and I'm not that stupid, really.” Makoto groaned, “But... you know, Sousuke.”

Yamazaki Sousuke looked at him. His droopy teal eyes turned a bit more gentle.

“Maybe it's weird. Maybe I'm just naïve, but when I saw Nanase-kun, I felt some sort of security. It's like—if it's him, it will be okay.” Makoto unconsciously cracked up a smile.

This time, Sousuke didn't answer. His teal eyes fixed on him, and Makoto saw pity in them. Makoto hated that pity, so he decided to look down, refusing to meet those eyes.

“Don't look at me that way.” He said with lower tone.

“I'm sorry.” Sousuke's lips finally curled to a small smile. “So this Nanase guy is the new student who will use the battle arena today?”

Feeling grateful for the change of topic, Makoto nodded and smiled again. “That's right. What is it, Sousuke? Do you and Rin want a rematch?”

Sousuke's smile widened. “Sure. Why not?”

Makoto laughed softly. “Fine. By the way,” He turned to look outside the window, “isn't it a bit too cloudy since morning? Probably since dawn?”

“Seriously? You're talking about weather?” Sousuke relaxed his back to his chair, following Makoto's gaze outside the window.

“It leaves me wondering,” said Makoto, “if it's someone I know who is the culprit behind this.”

:-:

If there was such a thing called 'stage fright', this must be it.

Or, it was much worse than stage fright. For someone who never received so many attentions, the battle arena was ridiculously overwhelming. The moment he approached the place, all the foods in his gut seemed to raise up to his throat. Haruka was ready to throw up. Normally, he didn't care what people think about him when they saw him, and even more so when he was swimming, but this.

_This._

He couldn't imagine how it would feel the moment Mikoshiba Seijuurou and Tachibana Makoto announced their rejections. That kind of fear for the upcoming humiliation was consuming Haruka more than he allowed.

The battle arena was massive. It was shaped in a perfect rectangular. The path Haruka was standing on and the path for his opponent across him divided the rest of the area in two. Large volume of water encased together on his left side, and solid earth on his right side. Rows of seats occupied by chattering, noisy students in uniforms were circularly surrounding the area. Four giant torches, all had been ignited with flames, stood firmly on the four sides of the arena. The arena represented the three main elements. Haruka concluded that people with the wind element didn't need their element to be preserved in the arena. They could make it come.

Haruka lifted his head and looked to the sky. The arena was an open area, and the clouds over him were quite dark. The day was cloudy, just like what he'd wanted. He'd asked Nagisa a difficult task of 'bringing the clouds over with the wind', and received a whine from the blonde in return, but Nagisa had done his best to help Haruka. Looking at his work, Haruka knew that despite his appearance, Nagisa had an amazing control of his wind spirit.

His late-grandmother's words hung in his mind.

_Haruka-chan, the clouds can travel at the speed of more than a hundred miles per hour. It is beyond us to control, but when you have a spirit inside you, my dear, it is connected to all spirits of the same kind. You can't bring the rain, but you can connect your spirit with the spirits outside your being, and those spirits will bring the rain for you. These spirits are very strongly connected in their natural realm._

Haruka was now inside their natural realm, so it should be possible. With head lifted up, Haruka closed his eyes.

_I am water, and I fall. I become heavy, I am massive. I am colossal, that the light doesn't have a place to shine through me until I am dark and I fall._

The rain didn't fall.

_Damn it._

He had to make more connection, but before Haruka could concentrate again, a loud voice—magnified by a microphone—was heard.

“Welcome to the battle arena of Iwatobi Academy!!” The voice was practically shouting, and it was definitely too loud for Haruka's taste. An MC was already standing in the middle of the arena—a guy Haruka didn't know (and didn't care). “Today, we have an unexpected, wonderful guest who will—probably—join us in our beloved school for the spiritually gifted! He is a guy occupied with a magnificent, beautiful, pure primary elemental spirit of _water_! Please welcome, Nanase Harukaaa!”

Haruka hated the way the MC talked. He hated the way he emphasized the 'ka' of his name. Loud, encouraging cheers and applauses broke out from the students surrounding the arena. Haruka couldn't help but blush a little. He didn't expect such a welcome. In the distance, he could see Nagisa and Rei sitting side by side on the front row—shouting, screaming, and cheering on him. Makoto was also there, sitting beside Rei. He lifted his hands near the sides of his mouth, shouting something at him. Haruka concluded it was some kind of encouragement.

Two more people settled themselves beside Makoto. Haruka didn't recognize them as people he knew, so he didn't give a care. Yet, he was flattered at all the cheers. In a moment, he felt at ease. It was probably the first time he was accepted so openly by the people beside his family, without anyone judging at him. He'd always thought that he was okay by himself—that he was alright if he was alone.

Yet in reality, his heart screamed a great desire to stay in this place. With a new, great determination, Haruka climbed up the stairs to the arena. It looked wider and bigger when he was actually up there. Haruka couldn't kick the fluttering butterflies out from his stomach.

“Nanase Haruka's first opponent will be the leader of our prideful Samezuka faction! We all know him as a crazy hellhound who knows no 'tire' and 'fatigue' in his dictionary. Please welcome our famous, energetic leader gifted with wild and powerful spirits, Mikoshiba Seijuurou!”

Louder cheers echoed around the arena. At the other side of the arena, Haruka could see Seijuurou climbing up the stairs. He settled himself in front of Haruka, with muscled hands on his hips. Mikoshiba Seijuurou was big with well-toned muscles. He had golden eyes, with slicked back and tousled hair, looking a bit fiery in bright red color. He wore a black jacket with red lines. There were white stripes alongside the arms, with arrow-like strikes on the white stripes. He could see a gold, triangle symbol on the jacket that somehow reminded him of shark jaws.

In five seconds of staring at his tall opponent, Haruka knew.

The aura emanating from Seijuurou was definitely powerful. Heat wave rolled away from him. It was fire—no, more than a fire. The energy coming out from him was too powerful and almost limitless. It produced uncomfortable heat. He also felt a wild, sharp, threatening aura of a silent killer.

It was the combination of the sun spirit and a spirit of a wild animal. _Hellhound,_ the MC had said. With the sun spirit, it could be hellhound.

“So you're Nanase Haruka?” Seijuurou grinned at him. “Welcome to Iwatobi Academy. Show me what you've got, kid. No need to be shy.”

Haruka stared blankly at him. His brain kept turning for a solution. There was no way he could win with water alone. He needed help. Akihiko had told him that he was allowed to gain help from the audience. Haruka did a quick scan over the crowd cheering on them, trying to feel their auras. It was almost impossible, but he tried anyway. The moment Haruka looked at Makoto, their eyes met.

Makoto smiled gently at him, yet it wasn't the smile that kept him transfixed on the brunet. It was an aura emanating from him—wait, _near_ him. Haruka gave him a very slight nod before shifting his eyes to the person sitting beside Makoto.

This was it. That person could be the key.

He immediately grabbed the MC's microphone, taking it away with force. Before the MC could protest, Haruka lifted the microphone to his mouth. “I want to talk to the person beside Tachibana Makoto.”

Confused murmurs filled the air. Almost all of the students turned their attentions toward Makoto and the people near him. Haruka breathed before continuing, “Yes. You. The one with black hair and bright teal eyes. I request your help on the arena.”

It was a man, a bit taller than Makoto. He looked baffled by the sudden call. Haruka could see Makoto was talking to the guy, discussing something a bit too intently. The guy snorted and rubbed the nape of his neck, looking grumpy and annoyed, but it didn't take long before he finally stood up and stared at Haruka with droopy teal eyes. He left his seat and climbed down the stairs.

“Gaining help, eh? And why him? Is he someone you know?” Seijuurou asked, flashing a wider grin. All these people must had a happy, joyful life that they could all smile like this. Makoto, Nagisa, and Seijuurou. Haruka silently envied them.

“I don't know him, but I know his spirit.” Haruka finally answered, “And I know your spirits, too.”

“Ooh, really? Have you gathered some informations about me?” Seijuurou looked at him in new interest.

“No.” Haruka replied, “I can sense your aura. You possess a sun spirit and spirit of a wild animal, don't you?”

“Impressive.” Seijuurou's mouth parted open in wonder and amazement, “This is the first time I meet a person like you. I feel like I can accept you already in my faction, but we will see.”

“So.” A new voice was heard. Haruka turned his head and found the guy he'd asked for help was already standing behind him. “What is it that you want from me?”

“Yamazaki Sousuke.” Seijuurou's grin showed him a row of teeth that looked somewhat sharp, “Fine. Two on one. If you win, Yamazaki, you will be the pride and joy of Samezuka faction.”

“Sure.” Yamazaki finally gave up a small smile, “So, Nanase Haruka. Why do you ask me to come?”

“Ice.” Haruka gazed at him, “I need your ice spirit to assist me.”

Those teal eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“I just know. If you help me, Yamazaki.” Haruka walked toward the water at the left side of the arena. He let his hand submerged in it, before pulling up a ball of water, easily gathering it in his hand. He quickly and deftly shaped it in a weird form of a bird with perfectly-rounded head. “If you help me, I will give you this exclusive Iwatobi-chan shaped water. I guarantee that it won't easily break.” Haruka proudly presented his creation in front of Sousuke.

Both Sousuke and Seijuurou's faces showed no particular expression.

“I don't want that thing.” Sousuke finally said.

It disappointed Haruka more than he expected.

“Stop wasting any more time. Prepare yourselves, Nanase, Yamazaki!” Seijuurou stripped his black jacket off, and Haruka found out that he wasn't wearing anything behind the jacket. Next, Seijuurou started to strip his trousers off, leaving him wearing only an unnecessarily short boxers.

“I'm sorry for our embarrassing leader.” Sousuke said to him, “We're not at all like him, so don't you ever dare generalize, Nanase.”

 _I don't care_ , Haruka thought, _I just want this to be over._

 _“Finally!”_ The MC had taken his microphone back from Haruka's hand, “Ladies and gentlemen, I announce the battle to begin in three! Two! And one! Mikoshiba Seijuurou versus Nanase Haruka assisted by Yamazaki Sousuke! Who will gain victory??”

Enthusiastic cheers boomed around the arena. Seijuurou bared a sharp canine teeth at him before lowering himself on the battleground, standing on his palms and feet. Bright red fur started to wildly grow on his whole body, and in several seconds, Haruka was standing face to face with the most enormous wolf he'd ever seen, with red fur and glowing, intimidating golden eyes. His sharp-looking teeth and large mouth were drooling uncontrollably. Flow of saliva dripped on the surface of the battle arena. His body was burning in scorching heat that Haruka felt like his skin could melt just by being near him.

“Here comes the hellhound Mikoshiba who had cracked a bar of steel with his deadly crunch! How will Nanase Haruka handle him?” The MC kept talking, keeping a safe distance from the bloodlust wild wolf.

 _A spirit wolf, and of course, he can shape-shift. The sun spirit is the source of energy itself, and he probably doesn't even need the solar energy from the actual sun. This cloudy weather won't affect him so much._ Haruka thought, feeling a surge of panic in his body. _Damn it all._

“Seijuurou is a mad dog.” Sousuke informed him, “The key is keep calm. Don't let his aura intimidate you. This is just an entrance exam. He won't really do life-threatening harm. It violates the rules, and Seijuurou is as loyal as an actual dog to this school.”

That eased Haruka a little. _Just a little._

“Victory isn't that important.” Sousuke said again, “He just wants to see how you handle things with whatever spirit inside you. So using too much of my help will actually lower your score. Keep that in mind.”

Haruka nodded, facing the giant wolf in front of him. He quickly positioned himself near the water. Seijuurou hadn't made a single move yet. Instead of charging on him, Seijuurou let out an earsplitting howl, directed to the sky—to the sun that had been concealed by dark clouds.

_Despite what I've thought, I might probably put him in disadvantage by concealing the sun. At least he can't absorb solar energy from the direct sun, and that means..._

Haruka stripped off his clothes faster than Seijuurou did, revealing black with purple stripes jammers wrapping his thighs.

“Ooh! What an incredible speed of stripping clothes! And much to my surprise, Nanase wears swim suit!” The MC commented loudly. He didn't know why, but images of Makoto and Rei's disapproving face entered Haruka's mind.

He needed to concentrate. “Yamazaki!” Haruka called, “Turn everything I hand you to ice. That's your only task.” Haruka turned back to the water, “Thank you.” He added, before he jumped and submerged in the water.

 _Spirit of water who occupies my being, you know who I am. I am water, and I fall. I am so heavy that I fall from the sky._ Haruka kept concentrating in the water engulfing his body. He could hear a faint sound of thunder booming outside.

_Finally. Just a little more._

He didn't know why, but the water felt warm. A little bit too warm—no. It's _hot._

_Shit._

Haruka's eyes snapped open. He swiftly swam to the surface, feeling heat all over his body. He was boiling. The moment Haruka's head broke to the surface, he hissed in pain from the high temperature of the water. Seijuurou was standing near, submerging his sharp-clawed paw inside the water, sending heat to the water until it almost boiled. Haruka's body jumped in alarm, climbing back up to the arena. Haruka felt like he was burning. Face flushed, Haruka glared at the red wolf in annoyance.

 _“What do you think you are doing, Nanase?”_ Seijuurou's voice came out from the wolf—slow and reverberated. Haruka sensed a more stronger aura from him, _“I can boil you like steamed fish.”_

“Tch.” Haruka quickly stood up and looked at the large volume of boiling water. They were steaming. Haruka's eyes widened. He could use the heated water. They would vaporize to the sky and created heavier clouds.

“Nanase, watch out!” Sousuke's voice filled his ears. Seijuurou leaped to him, muzzle opened up and bared his scorching sharp fangs. With all his senses alarming him in panic, Haruka dodged the attack and threw his body to the side. His arm burnt the moment it touched Seijuurou's fur, leaving a little part of his skin melted.

The clouds on the sky were now darker, obscuring the light to shine onto the arena. Despite Seijuurou's heat wave, he could feel the air temperature dropped low. When Haruka looked up, his eyes caught Sousuke, who was standing not too far from him, hands clasping in front of him with closed eyes. Sousuke was trying to establish a connection to the ice spirits outside his being.

Haruka needed low temperature in order to create rainclouds, to turn the water vapor to ice crystals until they were heavy. With Sousuke, they were almost ready.

 _“Trying to make rain?”_ Seijuurou asked in a growl, _“That won't affect me—“_

A blinding light crashed the solid ground on the right side of the arena in lightning speed. The roarings of thunders echoed from the dark clouds. Both Haruka and Seijuurou were taken aback, and something immediately clicked in his mind. Haruka spotted Rei on the front row, waving at him. “Nanase-san, I will help you!”

“Nanase-kun!” Nagisa screamed beside Rei, “I've brought more clouds!”

Then, Haruka spotted Makoto. The brunet was smiling at him. A simple smile, and Haruka understood. Makoto wanted to help, and together with Rei, Nagisa, and Sousuke, they would create lightning. In the clouds Nagisa had brought, the ice that Sousuke had created through his spirit connections would collide and create electrical charges. Rei would make them stronger, and Makoto's earth spirit would be the puller of the electrical energy.

“Nanase.” Sousuke's voice snapped him, “The clouds are ready. Establish your connection.”

Haruka ran as fast as he could to the solid earth at the right side of the arena. He was slow on land, and he was aware that Seijuurou was easily catching up to him. The wolf jumped, and Haruka immediately stopped and ducked, avoiding him and stopping at the side.

The moment Seijuurou landed on the earth, a flash of strong electricity fell from the clouds and to the ground, striking him. It could cause a massive damage to normal people, but Seijuurou was probably immune with his sun spirit.

At least, Haruka expected a little damage, but instead of seeing a damaged Seijuurou, he saw nothing. Seijuurou had vanished into thin air.

Haruka blinked in confusion. _What's happening...?_

“Nanase, behind you!” Sousuke shouted.

Before he could do anything, Haruka was pinned down to the ground. Seijuurou was on top of him in his wolf form, but for some reason, his body was no longer burning. Perhaps he was holding back, making sure he didn't harm Haruka.

 _“Using your friends' spirits to control the weather? Not bad, but did you initiate it yourself?”_ Those glowing golden eyes stared sharp at Haruka, _“I've told you before. Show me what you've got, kid.”_

_I am falling. I am water._

“This is what I've got.” Haruka said in soft tone.

And the rain finally fell.

:-:

_“Haruka-chan, it's raining.”_

_At the little announcement from his grandmother, Haruka's little legs quickly made their way out of the house. Haruka drenched himself under the rain, smiling while looking up to the sky._

_“You do like rain.” His grandmother watched him from the opened door._

_“It's our element, Grandma. Plus, when under the rain, I feel stronger than ever, like no one can beats me.”_

_His grandmother shook her head. “My dear child, the rain is not always about water. It's the result from various elemental spirits working together. The water spirit alone is not good, Haruka-chan. Remember, none of the elements is strong enough by its own. When they're together, they create harmony, and perfection can be reached. If it's not because of the heat, the water can't vaporize. If it's not because of the cold, the vapor won't create an ice crystal. If it's not because of the air and wind, the vapor wouldn't make it to the top and move to our place. If it's not because of the earth, our world will simply drown.”_

:-:

Although he'd been restricted from doing it since childhood, he finally did it. It was the first time Haruka merged with the water. The sensations were odd, but at the same time, it felt so right and natural. When Haruka opened up his eyes, he was standing behind Seijuurou, who was freezing in shock while looking at the ground.

He didn't really know what happened, but suddenly he was out of Seijuurou's grasp.

“Shit.” He heard Sousuke's voice, “What the hell did I just see...?”

“N-Nanase Haruka just did a high level skill of water manipulation!” The MC screamed enthusiastically on the microphone, “Water teleportation! I never expect I will be able to witness it! Not even one of the graduating students gifted with water spirits could do it! As expected from the grandson of our legendary heroine, Nanase Mizuki!”

_What's happening? How did he know my grandmother's name?_

“Nanase-kun!”

It was Makoto's voice, echoing under the heavy rainfall. Haruka quickly looked up, spotting Makoto who was waving at him. He looked like he was so proud of Haruka. Although Makoto was quite far from him, he could see those leafy green eyes shining vividly under the dark clouds. “Win the battle and you shall face me next! I'm rooting for you!”

Haruka found himself smiling. His hand lifted up, gathering up the rainwater. He shaped the water in the form of a sharp sword. “Yamazaki.” Haruka turned to him. “Freeze.”

Sousuke walked toward Haruka and touched his water creation, freezing it to sharp ice. Haruka felt extreme cold in his hands when the ice sword formed up.

Seijuurou has settled himself in front of him. His body had burned up again, all the raindrops that hit him instantly turned to vapor.

 _“Haruka-chan.”_ His grandmother's voice echoed in his head, _“You have more potentials than you always thought.”_

Holding up his ice sword, Haruka closed his eyes. He would win this and change his fate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I would love to hear from you as well about this one.
> 
> Warm regards from Gariell.


	4. The First Battle and a Dream Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for leaving your lovely comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks! I'm genuinely happy over every single one of them!
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter, as I had fun writing them as well

Under the pouring rain, Haruka lifted his ice sword higher in the air. Every breath he'd taken came out in a visible puff. Sousuke had lowered the temperature to freezing. Haruka considered about covering himself again, or the cold would slow down his movements.

In the distance, he could see Rei and Nagisa holding each other for the sake of warmth. Makoto leaned closer to a person sitting beside him—a bright maroon-haired guy Haruka didn't recognize as someone he knew. He produced flames on his hand. He had similar black jacket as Seijuurou's, using it to cover his head as well as protecting the flame in his hand from the rain. Makoto rubbed his palms together near the flame. Faintly, Haruka could sense heat energy from that person, although not even nearly as powerful as Seijuurou's. He probably possessed the fire spirit. Makoto and that guy were engaged in small conversation, before Makoto turned his attention to him again, lips curved up to form his usual smile.

 _Fire and ice._ That maroon-haired guy and Sousuke would be great companions for him to face Makoto later. For what he'd known, fire and ice were two elements that could put the element of earth to disadvantage, even more so if Makoto played a lot with plant manipulation.

Fortunately for Haruka, Seijuurou's heat wave made all the cold survivable, so he decided to let his clothes there on the ground. Wearing them would take his precious time, and his favorite jammers was comfortable enough. Yet, the ice sword in his palm was unbearable for him. His hand was ice-cold.

Seijuurou bent his body and bared his teeth. He charged on him with greater speed and higher jump than before. Haruka immediately held his ice sword upward, trying to stab the airborne wolf from the ground he was standing on. That very moment when his ice sword connected to Seijuurou's mouth, its tip instantly dissolved into warm water.

Haruka took a step back in alarm, watching Seijuurou crush the remaining of the ice sword in his mouth and let it drip on the ground in steaming liquid. Haruka gathered more water in his hands, shaping large needles out of it. “Yamazaki, freeze.”

“I got it—no need to tell me.” Sousuke swung his arm on Haruka's creations, freezing all of them to ice peaks. Haruka shot the ice peaks to Seijuurou, all of them immediately dissolved and steamed up in the air before they could do the slightest damage to the wolf.

_I knew it. It's useless._

“Seijuurou is acting passive.” Sousuke warned him, “He's watching you. He probably thinks you're just doing useless craps. Do something different, Nanase.”

“I'm just testing him as well.” Haruka replied in annoyance, “I need to know his body heat.”

“Seriously? This battle is timed. You may only have a remaining ten minutes at best to impress him.” Sousuke spitted out, “I can lower the temperature even more if you want that. If the temperature is low around me, I can create colder ice, and therefore, harder to melt.”

Haruka couldn't answer that. With all the falling rain, it would be even more freezing. Sousuke could gain many benefits, but Makoto, Nagisa, Rei and all the other students would suffer the cold. He couldn't risk anyone receiving hypothermia because of him. Weakening Makoto before his battle sounded a lot like cheating. Then again, he would hate seeing Makoto fall ill.

Could someone ethereal fall ill?

Haruka shook his head, trying to concentrate again. His mind kept going off toward unimportant matters. Of course he could. He still had earth spirit inside him.

Seijuurou let out another howl, this time with different tone. Haruka's body tensed with the sudden howl. _“Kiddo,”_ Seijuurou's voice came out, _“I will make this easier for you. If you can inflict an injury on me, I will immediately accept you in Samezuka faction.”_

“Fine.” Haruka considered to try using the water teleportation once again to reappear behind Seijuurou and ambush him. He sighed. It would probably take a lot of time, as he couldn't control it yet. His first attempt of the so-called water teleportation happened accidentally. While he was still trying to merge with the water, Seijuurou could shred him to pieces, and Haruka wouldn't risk that. Worse, what if the water he was using to transport him turned instantly to vapor? Would Haruka be able to form his body again?

 _“You're thinking a bit too intently.”_ Seijuurou's voice was heard behind him. Haruka jumped in surprise. He regretted his carelessness, and soon felt a shocking, horrifying burning pain across his back. Haruka cried, gritting his teeth and falling to the ground. Smoke puffed out to the air from the nasty huge scratch on his back.

Seijuurou added another unbearable pain as he slammed his sharp-clawed paw on Haruka's already injured back, burying his burning claws deeper. They penetrated through his skin. Haruka's back skin was melting from all the heat, and probably Seijuurou was grilling his flesh. His whole body drenched in sweat. This close, Seijuurou's heat wave was sizzling, and it was slowly killing him. Haruka fought the strong urge to scream for mercy and just give up.

“Nanase!”

Pieces of ice Sousuke had created from the rain to cool him instantly turned to hot water. They fell over Haruka's face, inflicting more pain over his skin.

 _“Back off, Yamazaki.”_ Seijuurou growled, _“I need to see what this guy is capable of.”_

Sousuke watched him helplessly. The heat was so great that Sousuke couldn't approach him, or it would kill him as well.

Haruka's hand raised up toward the large volume of water at the right side of the arena. Smoke and smell of burnt flesh entered his lungs, causing nausea in his gut. Haruka couldn't stop coughing. His vision blurred. In seconds, memories of his childhood burst in his mind.

:-:

_He saw fire._

_Black smoke framed his vision, and he saw a door. A door to the world outside—a door to safety, yet no matter how hard Haruka tried to reach it, he couldn't. His tiny arm hung uselessly in the air. Haruka cried. He cried so much—cried a river, but those tears did nothing to wash away all the pain and heat over his body. He thought water would heal him—water would help him._

_It wasn't capable to help. He was combusting in flames. He cried even more until he was dry. It was scorching hot. He lost the water—the water vapored away—and it couldn't help him. He called for Grandma, but Grandma wasn't there for him._

_Haruka died—he must be dead. There's no way he's still alive in this kind of heat. It was probably hell._

_“Na—...a—se—“_

_He heard a voice—it was somewhat familiar._

_“Na—se—“_

:-:

“Nanase-kun!”

Makoto's voice pulled him back to reality.

“Use the water—you can do it! You can do it!” Makoto's shout made him look up.

“Nanase-san!” Rei's voice followed after.

“Nanase-kun!” Nagisa's scream filled the air, “Go!”

Their voices snapped him back to his senses. They gave him some kind of a new energy. He was no longer engulfed in his own memories. This was different than what happened years ago. This time, Haruka wasn't alone, and he was capable. The water was around him, falling in the form of rain, and gathered together in large volume in front of him.

He could use them to save himself.

 _Raise up. Raise up and wash me._ Haruka desperately commanded the water, _help._

A huge body of water formed up to the top, covering a part of the audience's vision. Finally, it powerfully fell forward to the battle arena, submerging the surface of the arena like sea waves. The water crashed onto Haruka and Seijuurou. As the water engulfed them, Haruka could feel Seijuurou's paw left his back. His burning presence faded away.

As fast as the water came, it spread all over the arena and the soil at the left of it. Some of the water flowed back to its previous area at the right side.

“Tidal wave!” The MC finally talked, “It looked like a tidal wave! Whatever it is, I think it's awesome. Way to go, Nanase Haruka!”

Haruka abruptly stood up, facing Seijuurou, who was shaking off the water dampening him. His body started to burn up after that, but it wasn't as hot as before. The wet surface in which he was standing on gradually dried up as well. _“That didn't inflict me a damage, Nanase.”_

At the moment, he didn't care about inflicting damage. His body still felt too hot and the pain stung him so bad. Burning smell from his own flesh and skin entered his nostrils. He must've looked so pathetic, because Sousuke's eyes on him seemed to reflect pity. “Yama...zaki...” Haruka said, finding difficulty to speak properly. His breath was heavy, “keep... freezing... what I've shaped...”

Sousuke gave him a nod.

Without sparing him a time to recover, Seijuurou ran up toward him again. Haruka converged as much water as he could and created a thick wall of water in front of him. Sousuke was quick to move, ready to freeze the water, but Haruka's hand stopped him. The moment Seijuurou crashed onto the wall of water, Haruka shouted. _“Now!”_

Sousuke swiftly froze the wall of water to solid ice, trapping Seijuurou inside. As what he'd predicted, Seijuurou's burning body started to melt the ice he was trapped in. Haruka formed up a water spear and let Sousuke froze it. Before the ice wall completely dissolved, Haruka took a step back and charged toward Seijuurou's trapped body. _Be ready to receive your damage—_

The ice wall burst to a mass droplets of water. Haruka's ice spear melted when it touched Seijuurou's burning body, failing to inflict any injury. In frustration, Haruka almost cursed under his breath.

 _“Try harder, Nanase.”_ Seijuurou said, bracing himself again. Haruka took another step back, trying to read his aura. It wasn't as strong as before. Seijuurou was indeed holding back.

An idea came to his mind.

Haruka knew what he should try to do. Sousuke had told him that Seijuurou wouldn't dare do any life-threatening harm. He'd harmed him bad, but it wasn't like Haruka would actually die because of it. He also remembered when Seijuurou pinned him down on the ground. His body didn't even burn. The second time Seijuurou teared the skin on his back and digging his claws on it, he was still holding back. If he wanted, Seijuurou could slam him down with his burning body and let Haruka combust to death with his extreme body heat, yet he only rested his paw on him.

That meant in cases where Seijuurou leaped toward him and baring his scorching hot teeth, he wouldn't do the harm like Haruka thought he would. His teeth and a slam of his body would surely kill Haruka. It was just to intimidate him, or possibly push him to defensive state. The moment Seijuurou was near enough to him, Haruka was almost sure he would at the very least suppress his body heat.

Seijuurou was holding back on him, and Haruka decided to use that for his advantage. Carefully gathering a smaller amount of water, Haruka created a water ball, just a bit bigger than his palm. When Sousuke took a step toward him, he shook his head. “Follow me.” He mouthed.

Just after Sousuke caught his word, Seijuurou charged on him again. Haruka quickly dashed off, running as fast as he could across the arena, and Seijuurou was following him behind. Keeping one particular water ball safe in his hand, he constantly throwing another water balls to Seijuurou with his other hand.

 _“What are you doing, Nanase? Trying to play snowball?”_ Finally, a little tone of amusement was heard in his reverberated voice. _“The time is almost up. I'm a bit disappointed in you. I will finish this sooner.”_

Having his back facing Seijuurou, Haruka shaped his water ball to a sharp-tipped dagger, hiding it in front of his chest. Sousuke had been following him, spotting the dagger-shaped water in Haruka's hand.

Seijuurou leaped to him, with dangerous, scorching canine teeth bared to its fullest. This time, Haruka didn't even bother to avoid the attack. He bent his knees, bracing himself.

When the enormous wolf's body was airborne on top of him, Haruka felt his sun spirit aura abruptly weakened—if not completely disbanded. “ _Now!!”_ He shouted, swinging his water dagger to stab Seijuurou. Sousuke froze the dagger as fast as he could, and the ice dagger penetrated through Seijuurou's fur and skin, which had turned harmless in his effort of holding back. The knife dug onto his flesh. Blood spurted out from his body, and Seijuurou whimpered in surprise and pain as he landed awkwardly over the surface of the arena.

The MC turned frantic. “N-Nanase Haruka just inflicted a damage on Mikoshiba! He stabbed him—oh my good spirit he just stabbed him! T-that means—“ His head turned hard and fast toward the watch on his wrist, “Time's just up and Nanase Haruka made it! He made it, everyone!”

The students cheered all over the arena, presenting enthusiastic whistles and applauses. Haruka could hear Nagisa's scream among the many noises. Haruka's legs immediately collapsed, feeling fatigue washed all over his body. Sharp, disturbing pain stung his back. It felt worse now that he'd finished the battle.

Haruka took a deep breath of relief. Seijuurou stared at him with glowing golden eyes before his flaming red fur started to fall out from his body.

“Is Mikoshiba okay?” The MC asked, approaching them with Seijuurou's trousers and jacket.

“If someone is not okay, he's the last person that comes to mind.” Sousuke answered, also taking a breath of relief.

“Of course I'm okay! That's just one tiny stab.” When Haruka looked up, Seijuurou had shifted back to his human form, covering himself with his jacket and trousers. He grinned widely to Haruka. “Good work, Nanase! I didn't expect you to succeed in inflicting an injury on me. Don't cry because I burned you up a little. You're a man!”

Haruka's eyes closed, brows turned down in annoyance. “I don't cry.”

_But it surely hurt. A lot._

“Now!” Seijuurou stole the microphone away from the MC's grasp, “Get up, Nanase Haruka!”

Haruka tried to get up, but it was getting hard for him. Sousuke grabbed his arm, helping him to stand up. His body urged him to just faint, but Haruka managed to stand up anyway.

“Everyone! Listen!” Seijuurou shouted to the microphone, “Just like what I've promised Nanase. He'd successfully inflicted a damage on me, so please welcome our new student, Nanase Haruka!”

More cheers blasted out from the audience's seats. In his blurry vision, Haruka could see Nagisa and Rei jumping and hugging each other vigorously. Yet, Makoto wasn't there on his seat.

_Where is he...?_

“Nanase Haruka.” Seijuurou turned to him, “I, Mikoshiba Seijuurou, as the leader of Samezuka faction of Iwatobi Academy, officially accept you in our faction. It is up to you to join us or not. Do you want to give your answer now? We will give you the time to decide if you prefer that way, and we will happily give you a little tour to learn more about our faction!”

“If you're sure in your decision to join the Samezuka faction right away, you will get the privilege to skip the battle against the leader of Iwatobi faction.” The MC informed him with a smile, “So what's your answer, Nanase Haruka?”

“I...” Haruka couldn't answer. His eyes were unfocused. His blurry vision went darker. He wanted to vomit, to lie down, to just forget about the world and the stinging pain on his back.

“Nanase-kun!” He heard Makoto calling out to him. Haruka did his best to pay attention, turning his head slightly to the side. He saw Makoto running toward him on the arena, with concern and worry pasted all over his face.

“He's badly injured!” Makoto said as he finally made it toward Seijuurou, “Just postpone or cancel the next battle and take him to the clinic.”

Makoto's words sounded strange in his ears. Haruka couldn't make out the rest of his sentences. Haruka's body collapsed. He didn't know what was happening, but Makoto's worried expression was the only thing he could see at the moment. Makoto said something to him, yet Haruka failed to interpret his words.

Suddenly, he felt comforting hands over his injured back. Strangely, it felt nice. His back should have wrecked him, but Makoto's hand made it feel better. Much, much better. Makoto's warm, soothing aura emanated so strongly, and Haruka's weak body indulged it.

The warmth felt so comfortable. It healed him.

_Healing._

Makoto's earth spirit was healing him. Haruka felt so good that he didn't want to wake up again. After that brief second of recognition, he fell to a deep slumber.

:-:

Haruka saw a tree. Very, very huge tree. It was so tall, like a skyscraper. It was colossal. Its roots were fat and hard. It seemed so ancient, yet it was blessed with so many healthy leaves, and they were all so green—a beautiful shade of green—like Makoto's eyes. He never imagined that he would be able to witness something so majestic and alive.

It was like a dream. Wait, wasn't this a dream?

Haruka's eyes blinked several times. It was. It must be. A tree so majestic and alive should exist only in dreams and fairy tales.

His hand moved up to his chest, feeling its rapid beats. He was so stunned by the incredible sight that his face felt hot, his eyes stung, and his chest ached.

Makoto was there, leaning against the gigantic trunk. Haruka didn't understand why he was there. He decided to approach him, but he immediately stopped. His mouth parted open in confusion, because Makoto was crying.

He was weeping. His back slowly slid down against the trunk until he was sitting. He wept. Even when Haruka called his name, he was still crying. Makoto clutched the olive-brown strands of his hair and wailed. Haruka called his name again, and again.

_Makoto. Makoto._

It was like Makoto couldn't hear him. Haruka carefully made his way toward Makoto. He crouched down near him and touched his shoulder, shaking him gently.

_Makoto?_

Makoto's body suddenly burst into light. Haruka's hand was holding the air—holding what he believed as the remaining of Makoto's presence.

:-:

When Haruka woke up, it was Rei who was sitting beside his bed. He was in his room. Rei had been noisy, but he gave Haruka what he needed: a glass of water. Haruka thankfully took the glass and let the refreshing liquid run down his throat and entered his empty stomach.

“You collapsed after the battle and freaked out everyone.” Rei told him, pushing his red-framed glasses, “Good thing Makoto-senpai gave you first aid. His healing spirit is one of the best thing about him. How's your back, Nanase-san?”

Haruka expected an extreme pain on his back, but what he felt right now was some strange comfort on his back, even though it still stung a little. “Fine.” Haruka answered.

“Good. That's good.” Rei sighed in relief. Finally, he smiled. “Congratulations, Nanase-san! You're accepted by the Samezuka faction! So... are you going to join them? You don't need to continue the battle anymore if you join them. It must be relieving to you!” Rei's expression was betraying his own words. He didn't seem very happy—sad, even.

Haruka was silent, closing his eyes. Currently, he only knew two people from Samezuka faction. Mikoshiba Seijuurou and Yamazaki Sousuke. Of course he would know more people once he joined in. The battle was exhausting, and Haruka didn't want to do it anymore. Joining the Samezuka faction seemed like a nice choice. No more burden. It was an elite group, too, like Akihiko said.

Elite and popular? That was the typical group Haruka would avoid.

Then there was the Iwatobi faction. He only knew three people from it. Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei. The three people who cheered the loudest for him. The people who initially helped him without Haruka asking them to. The people who seemed to cherish him despite their current status as acquaintances.

Haruka found out that if he was seeking comfort, he would probably get it from Makoto. He liked being near him. It wasn't Makoto, perhaps. It was just his aura that attracted Haruka.

Another battle seemed like too much effort, though.

“I can't decide yet.” Haruka finally answered. “Later.”

“I... I see. Well, if you can't decide yet, your battle against Makoto-senpai will be held as soon as you're healthy again.” Rei said, smiling. He looked somewhat relieved. “Oh—that's right. Nanase-san, you haven't seen the incredible, beautiful sight we can luckily get from our window, right?”

Haruka's sleepy eyes opened a little bit wider this time. _An incredible sight...?_

“Usually I will stare at it almost every day!”

He did remember that yesterday. Rei was too focused and attached to whatever he was seeing from the opened window, and Haruka gladly left him alone.

“What is it...?” Normally, Haruka wouldn't bother to ask, but this time he was curious.

“Just look. I will open up the curtain for you.” Rei quickly left his bedside and walked toward the green curtain draped over the window. When Rei pulled the curtain to the side, it revealed something in the distance. It was already dark outside, but Haruka's keen eyes couldn't ignore what he was seeing.

His eyes were probably playing tricks on him, yet what he saw felt so real.

Haruka pulled his body up and sat on the bed. Even under the faint moonlight and dark clouds, it was the same.

The tree from his dreams.

“Beautiful and majestic, isn't it?” Rei's eyes were glimmering in admiration. “It's an ancient tree—if I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't believe such tree exist. It's so tall that it reaches the sky. That tree has protected this place from evil spirits for generations. It's probably much older than this Academy. And guess what I've just found? That tree has a name.”

Haruka was silent, waiting for more information. He couldn't take his eyes off the sight in front of him.

Rei took a deep breath before continuing, “Some third-year students—including Mikoshiba Seijuurou-senpai—call it _'_ Makoto's Sky'.”

“What's behind the name...?” Haruka asked in genuine fascination. He couldn't believe it.

_No way._

Rei just shook his head. “I don't know.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure about this. If the pace is too slow or fast, please tell me. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I hope I will see you again on the next chapter!


	5. Scents from a Lost Piece of Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for leaving your comments and kudos, and for following this story! Updates are slower and irregular now. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.  
> (To be honest I've never done a MakoHaru fluff before and this was my first attempt to insert them in the chapter, but I don't think it worked the way I wanted it to.)

The clock struck four in the afternoon. Rei hadn't come back from school, and Haruka was alone in their room. He had spent the day practicing to prepare for his next battle against Makoto and enjoying his time in a bathtub. He'd also fiddled a little bit with Rei's science books, trying to find any mention of earth spirit and its weakness. To his disappointment, he didn't find any.

Out of his expectation, he heard knocks on his door. The moment Haruka answered the door, Makoto was standing in front of him, dressed in his summer white school uniform and green dotted necktie. He flashed an adorable smile with a tilt of head and a faint blush on his cheek. He chimed a nice 'good afternoon' and asked for permission to enter his room.

“How are you feeling, Nanase-kun?” Makoto asked the moment he stepped in. “I've just finished classes today and I want to treat you again. Do you want an aromatherapy to help you relax?”

“Aromatherapy...?” Haruka repeated. Makoto nodded in response.

“If you don't mind, I'll perform the aromatherapy with materials that I've blended by myself.”

“Tachibana,” Haruka hesitated, “you don't need to do this.”

“Even if I don't need to, I _want to._ I'm in charge to treat your injuries, and I thought an aromatherapy would be more pleasing to accompany your healing.” Makoto paused for a while, “Plus, I'm still learning and I learn more if I do this. I hope you don't mind?”

Haruka sighed. “Fine.” He wanted to continue with a 'thank you', but instead of pushing the words out, they dangled in his throat.

“Great. Now open up your shirt and lie on the bed. Let me treat your back.”

Haruka pulled his shirt off. He climbed on his bed and released a sigh as his body relaxed on it, back facing the ceiling. Makoto carefully released the bandages wrapping his body and took out a bottle of essential oil from his bag. Then, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands. Makoto came back and began to spread the content all over his palms. When Makoto settled beside him, Haruka closed his eyes.

Warm, oily hands rested on his exposed burn with painless, delicate touch. They frequently massaged the back of his shoulders, gently. The scent of the oil quickly made its way through his nostrils. It smelled sweet and floral, but a little fruity as well. _What is this...?_

“Lavender blended with sweet orange.” As if he could read his mind, Makoto explained. “Does it smell weird?”

“No.” Haruka replied softly, relaxing under Makoto's touches. Both the hands and the aroma were so soothing that instead of pain, Haruka could drown in tranquility. His senses were almost lulled to sleep when Makoto's silky voice whispered comforts and repeated words of 'relax, inhale, exhale'. His voice hypnotized him, because Haruka subconsciously followed every instruction. Makoto's words were soon replaced by 'I'm sorry, I'm an amateur'. Haruka paid no concern to the last words.

He never sensed this tranquilizing aura radiated from Makoto before. Haruka assumed that he could only feel it when Makoto was attempting to heal, which made him wonder. He wondered if other people could feel this aura as well. Perhaps it was a healing wave rather than an aura. Whatever it was, it almost flew him to cloud nine. Probably this was what heaven on earth felt like.

“Nanase-kun!”

An energetic loud voice coming from Nagisa polluted the soothing and calm atmosphere engulfing the air. Haruka was pulled back with force from his trance, blinking several times. He didn't realize that he was sulking by the sudden interruption.

“How are you?” Nagisa barged in to his room, “Where's Rei-chan? I thought I will find him here. He left so quickly like a flash of thunder that I didn't get the chance to talk to him. Well, that's not so important. Nanase-kun, I'm so worried about you!”

“Don't worry, Nagisa. Nanase-kun's injury is healing greatly.” Makoto answered and smiled to Nagisa's curious eyes.

“Of course. If it's Mako-chan, I shouldn't even need to wonder about that.” Nagisa sat on the side of his bed. “Whoa! I'm sorry to interrupt. Nanase-kun, you smell so good. Are you having aromatherapy?”

“Sort of. Next time, remember to knock. It's inappropriate, Nagisa-kun.” Makoto sighed, but a smile soon covered any trace of annoyance on his face. “I bet you did that because this is Rei's room.”

Nagisa chuckled guiltily. “You got that right. Rei-chan's room is like my own room.”

“Well, remember from now on that Rei's room is Nanase-kun's room, too.”

“But this is still Rei-chan's room.”

“Nagisa, I don't want to argue,” was Makoto's final words, which received a whine as a reply from the blonde. “And,” Makoto immediately continued, “I got a report that you messed up in a party at Samezuka's dorm four days ago. I disapprove. Go and write a formal letter of apology to Seijuurou-senpai.”

“Eeh, but everybody messed up. It was a party! Mako-chan, don't do this to me.”

“Nobody messed up like you.” Makoto was about to slap his forehead with his palm, then he realized that his palm was still oiled. “Nagisa, you blew the girls' skirts with your wind.”

“That was accidental. I was playing with Momo-chan and he challenged me to lift up the plates of foods with my wind so we can eat without wasting time in queue.” Nagisa protested, his hands flailing up and down in front of him. “It wasn't as bad as you think.”

“No excuse. Write a letter to Seijuurou-senpai.” Makoto repeated, “Now, or I will reduce your points. Remember, if you want something, others want it to. Play fair. A queue was there for a reason. And, you hurt our faction's reputation that way—and mine, too.”

Nagisa groaned. “Don't cut my points. Okay, okay. I hope you get well soon, Haru-chan!”

_Haru-chan?_

The dark-haired man turned his head to the side, staring blankly at him. Nagisa responded with a bright smile, then he waved before exiting the room. Haruka couldn't take his mind off Nagisa's new way to address him. _Haru._ Nobody had ever called him 'Haru' before. It was always 'Haruka'. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the name 'Haru' more than 'Haruka'. It sounded more masculine, since Haruka was a girly name.

Although he didn't really like the '-chan'.

“Nagisa seems to like you so much, Nanase-kun. He really admires you.” Makoto chuckled. “Well, you did impress everyone with that high-leveled technique of water teleportation.”

Haruka didn't even know he could do that. He was just merging with the water, really. He had always believed he was capable to merge with his element if he tried hard enough.

Now that they were talking about the battle, he would ask a question that had bothered him since the first night he arrived in this realm.

“Tachibana,” Haruka started, “Why must we fight against one another as an entrance test?” He had wondered about it in his nights. There must be a lot of people who didn't possess the spirit to fight, and Haruka was one of them.

Makoto was still massaging and radiating healing wave on his back. He concentrated on his job. “Because once you leave this school, you'll be in the open. No one will protect you, and all you can do is protect yourself with the spirit gifted to you. Your spirit, Nanase-kun, is there to protect you from harm in this realm.”

Haruka turned his head, finding Makoto at the corner of his eye. “Are you saying that outside this school is a dangerous place?”

“That's right.” Makoto's green eyes finally met his. “This school is protected by a certain tree from the evil spirits. These evil spirits, more often than not, are personified. Their nature is to bring harm. Lots of them have the tendency to attack both the physical and the mental. That's why combat skills against them are important. No, this school will not teach you martial arts, but this school will teach you how to use your gift to combat evil spirits roaming out there. In other words, we're trained to be soldiers. After you graduate, you will enter a war zone.

“When they aren't personified, they will most likely occupy a person to use him or her to perform evil. If you're able to use the gift of the spirit to its fullest potential, this evil spirit won't get a space to occupy your being.” Makoto explained, lifting his hands from Haruka's back.

“What is that certain tree that's protecting this school?” Haruka finally had the chance to ask.

“Students call it 'Tree of Protection'. It's a very tall tree that reaches the sky.”

“The sky, yes.” Haruka answered. He turned his body a little to fully face Makoto, “I thought the name is Makoto's Sky.”

After those words escaped Haruka's lips, he found Makoto's face was turning pale.

“Care to explain?” Haruka pushed a little, but if Makoto refused, he wouldn't force him to.

“I... I don't know what you're talking about...” Makoto gulped, forcing a smile which turned out sheepish. Makoto was the worst liar Haruka had ever met. Then again, Haruka hadn't met that many people anyway.

“You're a bad liar.” Haruka turned his head away, resting his chin on his hands. Makoto replied with a nervous laugh. “Does it have something to do with your sky spirit?”

Makoto was silent.

“It's okay.” Haruka closed the topic, “No need to tell me if you don't want to.”

“I'm sorry.”

The brunet had a habit to say sorry for something that really wasn't his fault.

“Who told you about the name?” Makoto asked. He had stopped massaging his back.

“Ryuugazaki. He heard the name from the seniors. Mikoshiba was one of them.”

“I see. That name isn't important, so you don't need to think about it too deeply. My father is the headmaster of this school, anyway. He named things the way he liked it.”

“Ah.” Haruka nodded. He would just pretend to believe Makoto.

“I'm done with my work. How are you feeling now, Nanase-kun?” Makoto dropped the previous topic.

“Much better.” Haruka paused, “Thank you.”

The brunet's head tilted and he smiled warmly at him. “You're welcome.”

“Hold the battle tomorrow.” Haruka slowly sat down, facing Makoto. “I'm ready.”

The smile hadn't left Makoto's lips. “Are you implying that you have decided to join my faction instead?”

“Probably.” Haruka returned the smile with a very small one, his eyes closed. He had decided. Haruka couldn't really tell the reason himself.

Perhaps Tachibana Makoto was the reason. He pulled Haruka like magnet.

:-:

That night, their room was scented with Makoto's water lily reed diffuser. Makoto had offered him various fragrances he'd blended by himself. “So you can use them to make your room scented anytime you want,” Makoto had said. Haruka had chosen the fragrance simply because of its name: 'water lily'. He liked the smell anyway. Its scent was light and fresh, and just the right amount of sweet scent. Rei seemed to like it, too.

Rei had come back to their room a little late. Haruka didn't bother to ask why, but Rei told him anyway. “I was doing my own experiments in the lab. Nanase-san, once you've joined this school, I will show you my great creations.” He laughed menacingly. Haruka got an image of a mad scientist when he saw Rei.

“Ryuugazaki.” Haruka was relaxing on his bed. It was late at night, and they were ready to sleep. He didn't expect he would enjoy any conversation with someone he'd just met, but he did with Rei. “How did you fight Tachibana when you first entered this school?”

“There's a rule, Nanase-san. You don't discuss it with a potential new member of the faction.” Rei smiled at him, “But it was memorable. Me and Makoto-senpai established a good friendship throughout that battle. I didn't feel the same with Seijuurou-senpai, that's why I decided to join Iwatobi faction instead. It was actually the bond that attracted me. Nagisa told me the same.”

Haruka listened to him intently.

“Iwatobi faction may not have as many students,” Rei took off his glasses and placed it on the end table at his side, “but I never regretted my decision to join this faction. I have grown love for this faction. It's my home, and it's irreplaceable for me.” His eyes soften, glimmering in the faint light. “I see that Makoto-senpai has attracted you somehow, Nanase-san.”

Haruka's mouth remained shut. Rei's statement was spot on, but he wouldn't admit it. Not yet, and it wasn't just Makoto. Haruka didn't mind Rei and Nagisa's company. Instead, he started to enjoy the moment they spent together.

“You chose the right fragrance.” Rei suddenly said, covering his mouth as he yawned. He took a deep breath of the sweet air. “Now I'm sleepy. Good night, Nanase-san. I will root for you both tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Haruka answered softly, turning his body away from Rei.

The peaceful, sweet air of their room was soon caressed with subtle plucks of strings. Haruka's closed eyes gradually fluttered open as the melodious sound filled his ears. He sat up on his bed. Rei shifted beside him.

“Do you hear that?” Haruka asked, blinking his eyes several times to force it to open wider.

“Hear what?” Rei held his yawn.

“That sound.”

More gentle tones gracefully flowed through the air, penetrating the glass windows.

“Ah...” Rei pulled his blanket to cover more of his body. “That's probably Makoto-senpai. Once in a while, he went out to the garden at night, playing with a traditional instrument.”

“What for...?”

“The plants like the music, he said. Scientifically, it's still arguable, but it's becoming a habit of his. Makoto-senpai likes to spend his time outside in the garden and plays his instrument. Now you see the traditional way our faction leader has.” Rei turned to him. “And he's breaking the curfew, although he has special permission.”

Haruka slowly stood up, leaving the sheets of his bed messy behind him.

“Nanase-san, where are you going?”

“I'm not a student yet, so I'm not breaking curfew.” Haruka answered, leaving Rei alone in his room. He pushed the door to open and made his way toward the back garden. The music was teasing his eardrums.

Once he made it outside, gentle wind caressed his cheeks. The night air was cool and crisp. The moon hung low on the sky, painting the dark clouds with gradations of lighter colors. The moonlit garden was beautiful with its rich, colorful vegetations. The tree leaves rustled when the wind pushed through. Haruka could smell refreshing natural aromas carried by the wind, blended in harmony and charged through his lungs.

Makoto was there, sitting in a white gazebo. A long, large plectrum was held in his hand, plucking around the strings of a _shamisen._ His eyes were closed in serenity. Haruka quietly approached him so he wouldn't interrupt. He didn't want the music to stop.

But it stopped anyway, once Makoto's eyelids lifted open, exposing a pair of green eyes that shone vividly under the faint moonlight. “Nanase-kun...?” Makoto looked confused, “Why are you here?”

“Can't sleep.” Haruka kept his expression blank.

“Wha—sorry.” Makoto rested his _shamisen_ on his lap, “My music disturbed you.”

Haruka shook his head. “No, that's not it.” He sat in front of Makoto. “What's that song you were playing?”

“Oh, this...?” Makoto plucked his _shamisen,_ producing three consecutive notes. “It's a variation of an old song titled  _Sakura."_

“Play it again.” Haruka's shoulder leaned against a pillar of the gazebo. “Help me sleep.”

“You're not going to sleep here.” Makoto protested, “Fine. Just don't fall asleep.” He settled the _shamisen_ in front of him and began to pluck the strings. Various notes danced in the air, their harmonious melodies rubbed Haruka's eardrums. Haruka lightly shuddered in pleasure.

“You...” Haruka's eyes drooped down, “play a lot with plants.”

“They're a huge part of my element.” Makoto responded, his fingers never stopped fiddling against the strings. The plectrum still danced around them.

“That's a disadvantage.” Haruka said, “Tomorrow, I will defeat you.”

_Plants. That means fire and ice should do._

“I like your confidence.” A smile broke on Makoto's soft lips. His droopy green eyes hung half-closed. “I would like to see you try, Nanase-kun.”

More floral scent suspended on the cool air. It pushed itself in and out of Haruka's lungs. “Water lilies.” Haruka said, sitting straight. “You smell a bit like water lilies.”

“I do? Perhaps that's because I was just experimenting with them.” Makoto's body relaxed against the pillar of the gazebo, settling himself in a comfortable position to play the _shamisen._ He seemed ready for more conversation. “Putting that aside, Nanase-kun, how was your life outside in this realm?”

“Boring.” Haruka answered, “Nothing really.”

Makoto giggled, “I had a feeling you would say that. Let me guess, 'too much effort' to tell me in more details?”

How was this possible? This ability to read him like an open book, just like that same feeling Tachibana Akihiko gave him through his earthy gaze. Haruka sighed. “It's too much effort.” He confessed, “But it's no more than what I've told you. My life was boring.”

“Well, I know this is only your third night, but how do you feel here? Is it better than your previous life?” Makoto's smile was more gentle now when his eyes softened.

Haruka took a whiff of sweet air. “It is.”

It was much better here. He hadn't really started his life here yet, but he grew a liking to this place—to the people, to Rei and Nagisa.

And he liked Makoto. Much more than he previously thought—much more than he wanted to admit. Haruka still couldn't interpret his own feelings. It should be his special aura—not the ethereal one, in which Haruka had started to get used to. Probably the healing wave, but not really. Makoto didn't emanate a particular aura right now, except his usual oddly mixed auras of earth and sky.

It was Makoto's mere presence that made him feel this indescribable sensation he'd never experienced before. Tachibana Makoto filled him like water did to a half-full glass. This surreal feel of near fulfillment—a discovery of a missing puzzle piece, safe in his hand, but not yet placed in its position.

As crazy and senseless as it sounded, he had a strong feeling that Makoto was a part of him—a slice of his soul, that he'd missed since...

Since when? Had Haruka's soul ever felt incomplete before?

“Nanase-kun, are you asleep?”

Haruka blinked. He didn't realize he had dozed off in his own slow train of thoughts.

“Who are you?”

Makoto almost dropped his _shamisen._ “Nanase-kun? A-are you having amnesia?”

“No. I know you're Tachibana, but who are you, really? You're really weird.” Haruka's ocean blue eyes fluttered in sleepiness. “You're strange and surreal. Are you an alien?”

“Is that an insult?” Makoto's _shamisen_ had rested on his lap. His full attention was averted to Haruka now.

Haruka lightly shook his head as a respond. “Play the music again. Help me sleep, Tachibana.”

“Don't sleep here!” Makoto's voice went to a higher pitch. “Anyway, don't you think 'Tachibana' sounds a little long? Knowing you, have you ever thought that 'Tachibana' might have taken too much effort to speak?”

“Always.” Haruka answered, “That's why I don't like calling your name. Too much effort.”

Makoto sighed, but a smile soon followed after the brief whiff of air. “You may call me 'Makoto'.”

“Makoto.” Haruka echoed the name, feeling it rolling down his tongue. He liked it. “Okay.”

The brunet's smile stretched wider. His cheeks were touched with pale pink tinges. “Then I can call you 'Haruka'.”

“Drop the '-ka'.”

Makoto's leaf-green eyes were shut as he amusedly giggled, one finger placed onto his lower lip. He nodded in understanding. “Haru.”

_Haru._

There was something pleasing from the way Makoto uttered his name. It sounded really different than the one he'd heard from Nagisa. This 'Haru' sounded special when it was produced from Makoto's mouth; from his breath and the rolling of his tongue.

Night breeze lulled Haruka to sleep. This time, Makoto didn't raise his voice. He didn't stop Haruka from sleeping. Instead, the plectrum in Makoto's palm plucked more strings attached to the _shamisen._

“ _Sakura..._ ” Makoto's voice was melodious. Haruka barely realized the brunet was singing before dreamland pulled him quietly in its wondrous embrace.

Fresh dews' kisses on young buds. Rain over the soil. Sprinkles of water drops on the tips of flower petals. The smell of damp earth, the fragrance of nature. Haruka and Makoto. How would they battle against each other, when one's nature was to support the other, and vice-versa?

Haruka didn't understand, and the thought lingered even in his dreamland.

:-:

Like he had done two days ago, Haruka snatched the microphone out of the MC's grasp, earning a small protest from the guy. He turned his head around, eyes fixed on the seats beside the arena. “Yamazaki Sousuke.” Haruka's voice was magnified by the microphone, “And you. Maroon-haired guy who's sitting beside him. May I ask for your help on this arena?”

Makoto was standing in front of Haruka, wearing his usual summer school uniform. His arms crossed over his chest. He flashed him an amused smile.

This time, Sousuke didn't argue, nor did the guy sitting beside him. They exchanged a brief glance before nodding toward each other, leaving their seats and climbed down the stairs to the arena. Haruka didn't expect his request would be so easily accepted.

“Great choices, Haru.” Makoto said. He was at disadvantage, but he didn't show any sign of worry over it. Haruka faced him again, blue eyes fixed against those lively green ones.

_Water gives life to earth and plants, but fire and ice destroy them._

Haruka would destroy Makoto. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to destroy a part of his soul. It would hurt him for sure.

Yet this time, Haruka no longer cared.

“Yo, new guy.” A hand landed on his shoulder. Before Haruka turned his head, the maroon-haired guy he'd seen on his first battle had smiled beside him. “I am Matsuoka Rin.”

“Nanase Haruka.” Haruka nodded. “Thanks for coming over here.”

“No problem. Me and Sousuke had always wanted a rematch against Makoto anyway.”

Sousuke had made his way to stand beside Rin. He didn't look at Haruka. The teal-eyed man presented a small smirk to Makoto, resting his hand over his hip.

“ _Now!”_ The MC took away his microphone from Haruka's hand with more force than before. “Three on one. Nanase Haruka assisted by Matsuoka Rin and Yamazaki Sousuke versus Tachibana Makoto. I will announce the battle to begin in three—“

Makoto took some steps back, standing near the soil at the right side of the arena.

“Two—“

“I want to tell you a fact.” Rin nudged Haruka's elbow.

“One! Begin!”

“Iwatobi faction being less popular is _bullshit._ ” Rin gave Haruka a half-grin, revealing a row of unnaturally sharp teeth—like the ones belonged to a shark. “Tachibana Makoto has attracted many students, but man—this all-smiley guy is picky. Don't feel at ease because Seijuurou accepted you, because quite a lot of Samezuka students were actually rejected by your current opponent here.”

Haruka didn't take his eyes off Makoto as he listened.

“And, be careful of his so-called 'aromatherapy'.” Rin patted his shoulder, “They're toxic.”

A giant, monstrous flower burst out from the soil beside Makoto. Its curvy pale pink petals had yellow blotches all over them. The center of the plant had a hole that kept pushing out puffs of soft purple-colored gas.

“I thought he's restricted from doing life-threatening harm.” Haruka said, staring at the giant flower in wonder. He'd never seen anything like it before.

“He defeated his opponents in a much gentler way than Mikoshiba Seijuurou,” answered Rin, focusing his eyes on Makoto, “Just a whiff of that aromatic air to be inhaled to your lungs and you're knocked unconscious. Congratulations. You've lost the battle.”

Haruka would like a gas mask, then, although it was near impossible for him to get one now.

“No worries.” Rin lifted his hand. Scorching flame lit up along his forearm. “I will burn his plants to sad ashes.”

“And don't hesitate to ask me to freeze him.” Sousuke turned to him.

Haruka imagined an exquisite frozen rose. The one Rei would exclaim about how beautiful it was.

Makoto's pain could be heart-achingly beautiful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading up until this point. I'm sorry if you didn't even notice the fluffs. 
> 
> _Shamisen_ is a traditional Japanese musical instrument with three strings, played by plucking it with a long plectrum called _bachi._ Its model is a bit similar to a banjo.  
>  _Sakura_ is a traditional Japanese folk music, usually performed with stringed instruments, typically with a _koto._
> 
> I really appreciate comments and kudos. I hope I will see you again in the next chapter. Warm regards from Gariell. ^^


	6. A Battle for New Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your sweet comment, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions! They really mean a lot to me. I hope you won't be disappointed by this chapter. This is the longest one I've written for this fic.
> 
> I'm sorry as I am not at all an expert in writing battle scenes.

Just like the battle he had with Seijuurou days ago, Haruka had attempted to connect with the water spirit lingering at the sky. He lifted his chin up, facing the dark clouds over the arena that obscured the sun. Just in case Haruka needed the rain to strengthen his spirit, it would be easier for him to summon.

The first thing Haruka had noticed when he stepped onto the battle arena was the lack of audience at the seats near his right side. That was where the soil was located. After seeing the monstrous flower puffing out its gas that seemed to be highly toxic, Haruka understood why. Of course nobody wanted to take even a whiff of the mysterious gas. It looked like Makoto was pretty well known for his aromatherapy.

Now, even the MC had stayed as far away as possible from said area, taking a safe spot outside the actual arena. That was where he also stayed in order to avoid Seijuurou's heat wave two days ago.

More enormous, identical flowers crept out from the damp soil, quickly filling the plain area of brown soil with colorful curvy-petaled flowers, each of them puffing out different colors of toxic gas. In seconds, Makoto had created his own little garden.

“Those flowers didn't burst out of nowhere, though,” informed Rin, turning his head toward Haruka. “Makoto must have planted their seeds in the soil. Although, like what you've seen, he could instantly grow a seedling to full-bloom.”

“Do you like these flowers?” Makoto called out to them, smiling even more brightly, “These adorable sweethearts were Rei's creations.”

“Ooh, the glasses guy, eh?” Rin grinned back at Makoto, “As expected from Rei.”

He knew this feeling wasn't right, but Haruka couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed by his roommate.

Yamazaki Sousuke closed his teal eyes, concentrating hard in his attempt to connect with more stronger ice spirits roaming in the nature. The results brought up the temperature around them to drastically plummet. Their breaths started to become visible. Makoto was breathing more heavily. He even began to sneeze.

“Sousuke...” he whined, “this is too freezing.”

“Shut up. You're my opponent.” Sousuke bluntly answered.

“Okay.” Rin's hand was lifted up to massage his neck. A little cracking sound was heard as he cocked his head to the side. Then, he stretched his arms to the front, as if to warm up. “This is indeed freezing, but not a problem for me. I'm ready for the battle.” He revealed his row of sharp teeth to Haruka when he grinned. Those intimidating teeth confirmed Haruka that he'd chosen the right person. “So what should I do, Nanase?”

“What else?” Haruka's lips almost twitched to a small smile, but it hadn't reached a smile yet. His blue eyes were still fixed against Makoto's green irises, which seemed to pull his attention like a strong magnet. “Burn.” As he commanded, Haruka sprinted toward the large volume of water at his left side, settling himself beside it.

Matsuoka Rin would burn all of Makoto's plants, but Haruka wouldn't let Makoto to use the water to extinguish the flames. With consideration, he had suppressed the heavy rainclouds floating above them. Rainfall would put Rin at disadvantage. It wouldn't be only Haruka who got strengthened, but Makoto could also gain a great benefit from it. He exhaled a frustrated breath. He and Makoto shouldn't be opponents in the first place. Their elements had the tendency to merge rather than to oppose against each other.

“Be ready, Makoto.” Rin lifted both his hands near his chest, creating a ball of fire in between his palms. “I'll show you how much I've improved.” As his hands slowly parted, the fire ball was stretched larger. Haruka could see Makoto's face scrunched up in worry as the brunet watched the fireball in Rin's hand.

_Worry?_

“Take this!” Rin shot up his great fireball toward the gigantic flower on Makoto's side, leaving traces of heat in the cold air. Very much to Haruka's surprise, a flash of fear was visible on Makoto's face. The brunet was horrified as he threw his body in front of his flower, stretching his arms to each side as if trying to protect it.

Rin's fireball crashed onto Makoto's body. The brunet let out a shrill pained cry. Makoto was easily engulfed in flames, helplessly trying to jerk his body out of the fire consuming him.

_“Tachibana Makoto protected the flower with his own body! Oh my spirit, is he okay?”_ The MC's voice turned frantic.

For a moment, hesitation crawled inside Haruka. It pained him to see Makoto like that. When he swept his vision around, he realized that Rin and Sousuke didn't expect Makoto to do something like that, either. Both of them, especially Rin, seemed to be in panic.

“O-oi! Makoto, why are you acting stupid? That ball of fire can kill you!” Rin practically shouted. Guilt had replaced whatever facial expression he'd shown. Haruka concluded that even on the battle arena, one shouldn't threaten the life of others. Makoto kept whimpering in distress when flames licked every inch of his body. He made an attempt to reach the body of water behind Haruka. Haruka sensed the situation as something alarming. Without any more thought, Haruka moved his arm toward the body of water behind him.

_Wash over him,_ Haruka commanded, _save him._

After his hard attempt and some seconds passed that made him more anxious, the water finally started to move in a whirl before it formed up like a huge tidal wave behind Haruka. Releasing his control, Haruka let the water crashed onto him, Rin, and Sousuke. Very soon it reached Makoto's burning body, washing over him until the water slowly dissipated when it was absorbed by the damp soil behind Makoto.

When the wave was over, Makoto was standing on his knees. His arms wrapped around his own body, a hiss of pain made its way out through his clenching teeth. His eyes were shut, and a lot of burns were visible in many parts of his body. Parts of his uniform had been torn out to ashes. Haruka felt conflicted. Makoto was the one who healed the burn on his back, and now he just burned Makoto.

_What a good way to return the favor,_ Haruka sarcastically thought to himself, _but..._

“Mako-chan, are you alright!?” Nagisa's alarming shout rushed to Haruka's ears.

“I'm fine!” Makoto responded with a shout as he steadily stood up. Despite the visible burns on both his body and face, Makoto smiled gently at him. “Haru, thank you for saving me.”

Haruka couldn't bring himself to reply.

“Wow, Rin,” Makoto heaved a sigh as his hands clasped together in front of his chest, “I didn't expect that fireball to be so powerful.” Haruka could sense a great healing wave swirling around Makoto. It healed every burn on the brunet's body. Although not to complete health, Makoto looked much better in seconds. Haruka's jaw went stiff. Of course Makoto could heal himself. Did he make a wrong move by saving Makoto in the first place?

“Of course it is.” Rin answered, readying himself again. “If not for some mercy from Nanase, we should've defeated you.”

“I like that confidence.” Makoto smiled innocently at Rin, “By the way, thank you for that. I'm glad I'm not defeated yet.”

A powerful ball of fire would defeat Makoto? This seemed too easy. Haruka felt strangely uncomfortable. Makoto's sky spirit and earth spirit aura radiated stronger than before. Out of the blue, a strong and unfamiliar aroma started to invade his nose. The moment Haruka took a small whiff of the aroma, realization knocked on his conscious mind. He immediately slapped a hand to cover his nose and mouth.

_Oh, damn it._

Rin had taken the wrong way to harm Makoto. The brunet's droopy green eyes turned dangerously calm, and his smile cracked to a wider one.

“Shit.” Rin, who was standing nearer to Makoto, felt his body went stiff. The redhead suddenly collapsed on the surface of the arena. “D-damn you, M-Makoto...”

Letting out a small laugh, Makoto revealed a lot of burning incense sticks hidden behind his burnt uniform. He pulled them out, holding the thin sticks in his palm. Intense aromatic smoke drifted heavily in the air.

Makoto had used Rin's fire to lit up all the incenses he hid behind his clothes. “Thanks for the fire, Rin.” He chuckled, “You burnt all the incenses. They're, as you might have predicted, toxic. Don't worry, the toxicity won't threaten your life, I promise. They were carefully crafted.”

“Matsuoka Rin has been knocked down! The battle hasn't even started three minutes ago!” The MC announced.

Haruka was displeased by the fact that one of his companions had been knocked down in such a very short time. The moment he sensed a strong, icy aura emanating near him, he turned his head to the side, spotting Sousuke beside him. Luckily, he'd followed Haruka toward the water and was far enough to avoid the strong aroma filling the air around Makoto. Again, he was left with only Sousuke and himself.

Another whiff of strong aroma slipped itself through Haruka's fingers and entered his lungs. This aroma was even stronger than before. He coughed, shaking his head as if it could help. The smell was sweet—a bit too sweet that it made him nauseous. Worse, his vision suddenly went a bit unclear—not darker, but it was like water had covered his vision. He closed his eyes for a second.

This aroma made him feel strange. It was like his senses were dulled. Haruka shook his head again, trying to regain his senses with no avail.

“Is he immune to all those aromas?” asked Haruka, taking another step back. He was really close to the water now. Why did his head felt so light?

“Just like what you've seen,” Sousuke answered with a heavy sigh, “yes, he is. The aroma is naturally from the plants. It's very well associated with his own earth spirit, just like Rin is immune to fire and heat. Learn our lesson. Don't get near him. Attack him from the farthest distance possible.”

“Got it. Yamazaki, once the water reaches him, trap him in ice.” Haruka lifted his hand to summon another wave and clasped his hands together.

“If you're going to summon a huge volume of water,” Sousuke did the same—joining his hands together, “then I'll have to summon the wandering ice spirits out of my being to freeze the water instantly to your desire.”

“Can you do it?” asked Haruka while concentrating on his spirit connection. This time, it was just a low tide when the water passed through Haruka and Sousuke's ankles.

“Sure.”

_Form up a wave,_ Haruka thought, _crash him with all your might._

To Haruka's successful spirit connection, the shallow water immediately huddled together, creating a whirlpool so high that towered over Makoto. As if untying an invisible tide knot, the water released itself and fell onto Makoto. He should feel satisfied, but instead, Haruka blinked in confusion. This was easier than before. Too easy. The water moved exactly the way he wanted it to. He never expected to be able to control the water so easily through a connection.

“The ice spirits are ready.” Sousuke muttered, opening his teal eyes slowly.

Makoto saw the wave coming. Aware of the fact that he couldn't escape this powerful surge of water, Makoto gave in. He closed his eyes and joined his hands together in front of his chest. He seemed to be praying. Before Haruka could interpret Makoto's intention from doing that, his high wave crashed onto Makoto's body like a waterfall, and the water were instantly frozen to ice. It seemed to be a job done by a more powerful ice spirit that Sousuke had summoned. In an instant, Makoto was trapped in ice, frozen solid in his position of praying.

Just like Haruka had thought. When he was frozen, Makoto was achingly beautiful. He wanted to slap Rin back to consciousness and beg him to release Makoto from the ice with his flames, yet at the same time, he didn't want to do it. He wanted to preserve Makoto for his own.

And that—Haruka was completely aware—was a dangerous, lustful, and selfish thought. What was wrong with him? After lightly shaking his head to bring his right mind together, Haruka gathered a handful of water flowing on the arena and quickly shaped it into a sharp-tipped spear.

Without the need for Haruka to ask him, Sousuke's palm rested at the water spear, slowly but surely freezing it to hard ice. Unlike before, the cold didn't really bother Haruka. It confused him when he realized that he didn't feel cold at all. Again, Haruka didn't think too much about it and focused his eyes on Makoto's frozen body.

Seijuurou could melt the ice with his heat presence alone, but Makoto should be vulnerable in his frozen state. It was more easier to inflict a damage on him.

“Prepare yourself,” Haruka muttered, charging his spear toward Makoto's frozen body. His blue eyes widened in surprise when he felt something constricted his ankle in a tight knot, preventing him to approach Makoto. Haruka quickly turned his attention downward, spotting strong, sharp vine plants wrapped around both his ankles, its razor-sharp tips pressed on his skin until they penetrated inside. Yet strangely, he didn't feel any pain.

“What is—“ Haruka's eyes swiftly moved toward the source of the vines. It came a long way from Makoto's little garden of gigantic flowers. The vine plants were long enough to cross over the arena and reach Haruka.

Sousuke was the first to realize what Makoto was doing in his position. “Nanase, be careful. Even in his frozen state, Makoto is making a connection to the earth spirit outside. So even when he can't move, he still can control his plants.”

Haruka irritatedly stabbed his spear to the vines binding his ankles. The vines were severed by the sharp cut, and Haruka broke his ankles free of them. He quickly backed away when the vines moved around, trying to reach him again. If he couldn't approach Makoto, he had to think of another way.

Suddenly, he got an idea. Makoto's earth spirit could attract lightning. He failed to harm Seijuurou with lightning before, but this time, it might inflict a great damage for Makoto.

Now that Haruka was thinking about it, how did Seijuurou vanish into thin air when he was struck by lightning? The blue-eyed teen shook his head. He shouldn't think about that now. Haruka turned around and found Rei, who was once again sitting beside Nagisa at one of the rows of seat. He was about to gain Rei's attention to help him, but hesitated.

What if the electricity would be too damaging for Makoto?

What if Makoto got heavily injured?

What if he died?

“Do it.” Like a stream of cold water, Sousuke's icy gruff voice snapped Haruka's mind. He turned to face Sousuke, insecurities had taken control of his heart. “Just do it,” Sousuke repeated, “go. Injure him. Kill, if you must.”

_What did he say...?_

“Nanase-senpai!” Rei suddenly waved his arm, “I will help you!”

_Wait..._

“Haru-chan, I have brought more clouds!” Nagisa exclaimed. Haruka furrowed his brow at this strange phenomena of _deja vu._

“The clouds are ready.” Sousuke's voice added more confusion. “Establish your connection.”

Hisses of thunders were heard. Haruka looked up to the sky. A black cloud was glowing with dangerous light, floating above Makoto's frozen position. What was left for Haruka to do was to let the rain fall, and therefore, the upcoming lightning would strike even stronger. Haruka shivered and gulped at the thought of striking Makoto with powerful lightning. He couldn't do it. The thought alone made him somewhat sick.

Haruka spun his body to face his friends. He took a breath to voice out his thoughts—to tell them to stop—that it was dangerous, that Makoto could get killed, but it was too late.

A powerful flash of lightning thundered over Makoto in a sickening, blinding whiteness that burst into Haruka's vision. Haruka's heart trembled in shock and fear, his lips went dry, eyes couldn't get more wide, when electrical charges burned the vines protecting Makoto and crashed open the ice. A great terror constricted his chest and suspended his breath the moment he saw Makoto.

The brunet fell on the ground with a loud thud. Dense smoke drifted in air from his burnt body. A sickly mixed smell of lavender, sweet orange, melted skin and burnt flesh made Haruka wanted to throw up.

_No._

“Oh my God...” that was the MC's voice. “I announce this battle to stop. Right. Now! This has crossed the boundary!”

Haruka felt sick—really sick. He could no longer feel any aura from Makoto. His spirits' auras burst into nothingness. It was like...

Like the moment his grandmother died.

How could this happen? He jerked his body toward Sousuke. The teal-eyed teen was standing in shock. _This is your fault_ , Haruka wanted to scream, but the words failed to roll off his tongue.

“You killed him!” Nagisa screamed from the audiences' seats. Upon hearing Nagisa's voice, Haruka wanted to snap and shout back that it was the blonde's fault, but when his eyes caught Nagisa's figure, the blonde was shaking Rei's body in anger. “You killed Mako-chan!”

“I didn't! This isn't entirely my fault! It's your clouds too, Nagisa-kun!” Even from the distance, Rei's pale face was obvious.

Haruka wanted to go home and cried on his dead grandmother's lap.

“This is your fault,” Sousuke snapped at him, “it's you who wanted to strike him with lightning.”

Haruka's guilt-ridden heart was set ablaze with fury. “I didn't even ask you to! This is _your_ fault! You've killed Makoto, damn you!” He screamed, charging toward Sousuke. The teal-eyed teen was stronger than him. He easily pushed Haruka back with powerful force. Haruka fell back on the surface of the arena, dizziness made his head throb.

_This isn't real. Tell me this isn't real. It's just a nightmare._

“Haru.”

Like a surge of electrical energy, Makoto's voice pulled Haruka back to his senses. He quickly looked up, blinking his eyes in genuine bewilderment when he saw Makoto. He was standing in front of him, as if he hadn't got injured at all. His usual smile adorned his serene expression.

“Seems like you're in a nightmare. Wake up, Haru.”

* * *

 

_“Haru-chan!”_

_“Nanase-san, wake up!”_

The moment he heard Nagisa and Rei's voice, Haruka's vision went clearer. He quickly looked around. He was on the arena, but Makoto's burnt body wasn't there. Sousuke wasn't there. He wasn't even near the water. Instead, he was in Makoto's little garden at the right side of the arena. His body, arms, and legs were bound by strong vines rooted firmly under the ground. He blinked in confusion.

“You finally wake up!” Makoto's cheerful voice seized his attention. Haruka followed the voice, finding Makoto relaxing his body on one of the petals of his gigantic flower. The monstrous flowers around him were no longer puffing out gasses. Makoto's arms crossed in front of his chest, a smile of satisfaction adorned his lips.

_Wake up?_

“Nanase Haruka has finally reacted to the audiences' calls. He has regained consciousness! That's great, but unfortunately, he has fallen asleep for quite a long time and has only eight minutes to win this battle!” The MC announced through the speaker.

“Oh, sorry, Haru.” Makoto straightened up, walking toward Haruka. The dark-haired teen struggled in his bond, but the vines were stronger than he expected. He felt so weak and nauseous, his heart raced up uncontrollably. “I put you in complete trance with my incense and then you were knocked unconscious. The aroma induced you to sleep. Not entirely my fault, since it was Rin who burnt it, remember?”

Haruka clenched his teeth. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep.

“If you inhaled a sweet smell that made you nauseous, then that's when you were affected.” Makoto explained. He chuckled, “Do you like it? Me and Rei crafted these particular incenses together for a school project. We used hallucinogenic plant as one of the ingredients. Instead of instant sleep, you were put to trance before your consciousness was pulled into a dream. You wouldn't even feel sleepy.”

That was why it seemed so easy to control the water like he had become the master of spirit connection. That was why he felt neither pain nor cold, why Sousuke had said heartless things, why Nagisa and Rei acted weird, why his head felt airy, why his friends mindlessly attacked Makoto to death. They were all a dream—of things in his memories, things he wanted, and things he feared—gathered in his subconsciousness.

“What dream did you have, Haru?” Makoto casually asked him. “Something pleasant?”

Haruka didn't hide his annoyance, “Yes. We struck you with lightning and you were killed.”

“Eeeh? That doesn't sound pleasant at all!” Makoto complained with a tired huff. “Oh well, putting that aside... Haru, you have wasted your time by sleeping so soundly. Now you have around five minutes left to win this battle. Look around you.”

Despite him being pissed off by the whole situation, Haruka followed Makoto's words. He spotted Sousuke and Rin near him, both still asleep and bound with strong vines.

“All of you have inhaled my flowers' toxic gas in your sleep,” said Makoto, explaining Haruka's nauseous and erratic heart state. He took a small bottle lying on the ground and showed it to Haruka, “although it isn't life-threateningly dangerous, this is the antidote. Here's my challenge to you, Haru. If you're able to take this antidote from me, I will really consider to accept you in Iwatobi faction. Of course, in order to do that, first you have to break free from my vines.”

How did Haruka do that? He pulled his arms, testing the strength of the vines. Definitely not something he could break with his physical strength alone. Without Rin and Sousuke's help, he was helpless.

Makoto smiled cheerfully at Haruka, lovingly patted the petals of his giant flowers that were actually ugly for Haruka's taste. When Haruka shifted his gaze back and formed an invisible connection between his ocean blue eyes and Makoto's leaf-green ones, Haruka knew what Makoto expected him to do.

Water teleportation.

That was the only way he could think of to escape the vines. Makoto wanted to see if Haruka could do water teleportation within the remaining five minutes. Fortunately for Haruka, the water vapors in the clouds above them were ready to condense to rain.

_Spirit of water who occupies my being, I am Nanase Haruka,_ he thought with closed eyes, _I am you, and you are me. I am heavy enough and all I have to do is fall._

The rain hadn't fallen yet. Of course. Contradicting what he had in his dream, this time the connection was real, and it wasn't easy. Makoto didn't do anything to stop him. His green eyes bored into him, watching Haruka expectantly.

_I am water._ Haruka tried again, _I am... water, and I fall..._

Drops of water fell from the sky, dampening the whole arena. Makoto's eyes widened a little, then a gentle smile followed after. Haruka's heart softened by the sight. Like a proud mother, Makoto looked content at his small success of summoning the rain. All of Haruka's doubts and annoyance vanished in an instant.

_Now for the teleportation._ Haruka tried to focus, closing his eyes again. He had always believed that when he tried hard enough, he would be able to merge with the water.

Haruka was confident that he could do it. If he could do the water teleportation when he faced Seijuurou, then Haruka could do better when he faced Makoto.

Because he hadn't met a stronger reason to try.

“Makoto,” Haruka couldn't break his gaze from the hypnotizing beauty and liveliness of Makoto's droopy green eyes, “I am winning this.”

“Not yet,” answered Makoto, his fingers playing with the small bottle of antidote in his palm.

The rainfall poured over them in heavy sheets. Now they were surrounded by Haruka's element. This was a great advantage. Feeling the water perpetually covering up his clothes and skin in endless flow, Haruka smiled as he felt stronger than ever.

He was one with the water.

He didn't back off like he did in his private training. The transition was no longer shocking for him. Instead, it felt so natural—the same feeling he experienced when he was battling Seijuurou. Haruka didn't know anymore what was going on around him.

Except that he was now standing behind Makoto.

With no hesitation, Haruka charged onto Makoto's body, gathering up as much water around them as possible. Before Makoto could react, Haruka huddled up the heavy rainwater and formed a huge water ball to submerge both of them whole. He pressed Makoto on the ground, securing both his palms to his sides and tried to take the antidote.

Haruka trapped Makoto under his grasps, slamming his body onto him. He drowned him in the water ball he had created. He didn't know how much time he had left, but this was his last chance. Makoto struggled in panic. Haruka could see that he had successfully ambushed Makoto that the brunet hadn't got the time to inhale some air. Bubbles escaped through Makoto's opened mouth.

_Give me the antidote,_ Haruka thought, as if he could communicate with Makoto through some sort of telepathy, _I can breathe underwater. You probably have only a minute to survive from drowning._

Much to Haruka's frustration, it seemed like Makoto was stubborn. He still kept refusing to release the antidote in his palm. Haruka did his best to hold him down, knowing full well that Makoto was physically stronger than him. Yet as he drowned, Makoto got weakened.

All Haruka could do was wait until Makoto was weak enough to let Haruka snatch the bottle out of his stubborn grasp. Then he could release Makoto before something he didn't wish for actually happen.

_Come on, just give up._

Something slipped near Haruka's neck and constricted his throat. Haruka coughed in surprise. From the rough texture against his skin, it seemed like Makoto's vine plant was strangling him. That was the weakness of a water ball. Things could move in and out of it, unless he had Sousuke to turn the outer part of the ball to ice, but now Sousuke wasn't available to help.

Makoto's eyelids opened up, just slightly, finding Haruka's eyes.

They were in a battle of survival. It was either Makoto who would break his limit and lost his consciousness because of drowning, or Haruka who would left completely breathless with the vines constricting his neck. The one who survived longer would win.

Yet, Haruka was aware in full knowledge that Makoto was restricted from doing life-threatening harm. Sooner or later, when Haruka was about to reach his limit, Makoto would definitely release the vines and let Haruka breathe. Haruka would do the same with Makoto.

He felt Makoto's grasp finally weakened. Haruka immediately snatched the antidote bottle away and let the water fell over them, spreading all over the ground and seeped into the soil. The vines constricting his throat loosened up, leaving Haruka hungrily gasping for air like a fish out of water. Makoto couldn't stop his cough, vomiting water out of his mouth.

“Ha...ru...”

“I...” Haruka was still struggling to suppress his cough and steady his breath, “...win.”

“Uh... huh...” Makoto smiled weakly at him, eyes unfocused. “You did it...”

He did it.

Those words affected him more than he expected. He finally did it.

“Am I seeing it right? Nanase Haruka had taken the antidote from Tachibana Makoto! He did it, everyone!” The MC shouted louder to the microphone. “Still twenty seconds to go but it seems like the battle is over now—“

“No.” Haruka interrupted with softer tone. The MC, of course, didn't hear it. Applauses and cheers filled the arena. Yet, Haruka didn't care. The most important thing was that Makoto had heard what he'd said, and the brunet smiled in understanding.

He left Makoto's body on the ground and ran toward Sousuke and Rin. The moment Haruka approached them, the vines binding them slowly loosened and gently lowered them on the ground.

Contradicting Makoto's gentle treatment, Haruka slapped Rin a bit hard on the cheeks in order to wake him up. “Matsuoka. Wake up. Hey, Matsuoka.”

“What the...?” Rin's eyelashes fluttered until a pair of red eyes were revealed. “Wait, what happened...?”

“Here, drink this antidote.” Haruka opened up the small bottle in his hand, “Makoto, how much should he drink?”

“For Rin, I think five drops should be enough...” Makoto had stood up, coughing a little and inhaling some air. “Three drops for you and Sousuke.”

Haruka carefully tilted the bottle above Rin's opened mouth, letting five drops of antidote fell on his tongue. Rin's sleepiness vanished in an instant. “What the hell is this bitter shit?”

“Rin, hold your tongue.” Makoto protested, “He's curing you.”

“Now's your turn, Yamazaki.” Haruka shook Sousuke's body awake impatiently, “Wake up, Yamazaki.”

When Sousuke finally opened his sleepy eyes, Haruka gave him three drops of antidote and the teal-eyed teen instinctively spitted whatever disgusting liquid that attacked his sense of taste. “What the hell is this—“

“You too, Sousuke! Hold your tongue!” Makoto whined in protest. “You're no different than Rin. I don't need you two to insult my recipe.”

Haruka finally tasted the antidote to cure himself. He couldn't describe the taste better than that it was the most disgusting thing that had ever landed on his tongue. Haruka slapped a hand to his mouth, fighting his best to swallow and not gagging it out.

The MC had approached them. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” Makoto coughed up a little and cleared his throat, “May I borrow your microphone?” After receiving the microphone, Makoto lifted it closer to his lips. “Nanase Haruka.” Makoto's voice was magnified as he addressed him.

Haruka looked up, trying to ignore the horrible aftertaste of antidote on his tongue. When he spotted Makoto's gentle smile and soft gaze, his heart raced up again—the aftertaste forgotten.

“Before I announce my decision, let me honestly tell you what I've observed from you throughout the battle.”

The audiences went silent. Haruka didn't quite expect this. At least, Seijuurou just simply accepted him in his faction, just like he'd promised, without commenting about his whole performance.

“First, when I was set ablaze, I actually acted it on purpose.” Makoto smiled sheepishly at him. “I put you to a test, Haru. I wanted to see if you would allow me to use the water to help myself. Of course, even if you didn't, I still could help myself. Well, I must announced that I was pretty satisfied when you washed me with a nice tidal wave instead. You see, some people tend to be so focused on winning that they decided to use the helplessness and great pain of their opponent to claim victory. I didn't find that kind of person in you at that moment.”

Haruka gulped. Who would be so cruel as to let Makoto be in such pain in order to gain victory, anyway? A lot of people, probably, and Haruka shuddered at the thought of him potentially being one of them, when he remembered how he viewed Makoto's frozen body in his dream.

“Second, I was really impressed for your confidence and your hard work to make difficult things come true. Water teleportation isn't something easy to do. To conclude, I think you really are talented and skilled, Haru. You have the potential to be much greater.”

Haruka found himself blushing at all the praises. He silently looked away, feeling a little hot despite the cold rain that had turned to light drizzle now.

“Third, I was holding back a little when you trapped me in your water ball. I could use the vines to simply pull you out of the water in order for me to release myself. Instead, I decided to let you trap me, although I did fight a little by strangling you with vines. To tell you the truth, I panicked.” Makoto blushed a little in embarrassment. “Same purpose. I wondered how far you would harm your opponent in order to win. I was really at my limit, so yes, I couldn't hold it any longer that I let you have the antidote. Because of that, I couldn't really tell whether you would cross the safe boundary or not.”

Of course he wouldn't. Haruka had prepared himself to release Makoto when he did reach his limit. He no longer cared for victory if that was the case. Yet, he couldn't tell it to Makoto. It was not his position to defend himself.

“But, when I saw you rushed over to Rin and Sousuke the very moment you got the antidote, without drinking it to cure yourself first—and ignoring the announcement of your victory—I was assured.” Makoto tilted his head, green eyes shone vividly soft as he smiled. “You initially saved Rin first because yes, his condition was worse. Then you saved Sousuke, before you cured yourself. You believed them to have worse conditions than yours, and you put them to priority. Nanase Haruka, victory isn't important. It's how you handle others with love and care even in such a demanding situation, that I wanted to see from you, and I think that is enough.”

Heart pounded against his ribcage, Haruka looked at Makoto expectantly.

“Enough for me to gladly announce that I, Tachibana Makoto, as the leader of Iwatobi faction, will officially and happily welcome you to our faction.”

Loud cheers blared out from the audiences. Haruka could hear Nagisa and Rei crazily screamed at him, with voices louder than when he was accepted by Seijuurou. Haruka couldn't suppress his smile. He was happy—really happy—a kind of happiness that he'd never experienced before that he felt like he could cry.

“Congratulations, Nanase Haruka!” The MC grinned widely at him, “Now both factions can give you a tour before you decide—“

“I have already decided.” Haruka cut off. He really had no reason to wait for what he'd longed for. It wasn't even about the faction, nor the popularity. It was about this warm feelings in his tummy whenever he was near the people he was comfortable with—the people he could probably call friends by now.

“You have already decided? That's great, then what is your choice?” asked the MC. Again, Haruka took the microphone out of the MC's grasp, holding it near his lips. The MC had learned to stop protesting.

“Iwatobi.” Haruka announced, “I will join the Iwatobi faction.”

Makoto's smile gradually blossomed to a more beautiful, adorable, wider one—with healthy tinges of pink coloring his cheeks. “Welcome—“ said Makoto enthusiastically, “—to Iwatobi faction and Iwatobi Academy! From today onward, you are a student of our faction. We're happy to have you, Nanase Haruka!”

Makoto stretched out a hand toward him. Haruka stared at the hand before taking it. It was warm—this comfortable warmth that felt like home.

_Home._

Haruka wasn't sure about that yet, but he knew that a better, brighter life had waited for him. It would definitely be a life with more laughter. A life with the wondrous phenomena his grandmother called 'love'. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I gladly announce that there will be less battle scenes and more high school life (and fluffs!) for several upcoming chapters.
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. I hope I will see you again in the next chapter. Cheers.


	7. An Interlude, a Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for leaving your lovely comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions!  
> They really encouraged me! I was so happy to know you enjoyed this story so far! Just like the title may have indicated, this chapter is an interlude, between the battle and Haru's first day of school.
> 
> I hope you will enjoy this chapter. ^^

“ _Good morning! This is Ryuugazaki Rei. Get up and be properly ready for the day. Today is beautiful!”_

_“Good morning! I am Hazuki Nagisa. I'll bring fresh morning breeze for you! If you won't get up, I'll go in and sleep with you! Just kidding.”_

_“Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto. Um... I hope you will spare your time to visit the garden and enjoy the scents and beauty of the flowers—oh, it's also a great place for meditation before you start your day. But remember, don't be late, okay?”_

_“Good morning. Matsuoka Rin here. Get up already. The morning sun is good for your health so yeah, go outside and drench yourself with sunshine. Go for a morning run for best results. If you're able to see the sunrise, that's much better.”_

_“Good morning. Yamazaki Sousuke here. If the morning turns out to be cold for you, go heat yourself with exercises, rather than covering yourself with a blanket.”_

Nanase Haruka felt like his eyes had been frozen shut, and he made no attempt to break the invisible ice, giving in to his own sleepiness. Voices that seemed to come out of the radio kept insisting to pull him awake. They never stopped, the sentences were repeated several times that they annoyed Haruka.

_“Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto—“_

“Makoto you're loud.” Haruka mumbled, hand stretched out to the end table near him. His fingers found something solid that was buzzing a little as it produced the voices. Recognizing that it was some sort of an alarm clock, Haruka tried to turn it off. Yet, his sleepy hand bumped into it harder than necessary until the clock fell off the table and crashed on the floor.

“No! My beautiful creation!” Rei's loud voice rang through Haruka's ears. Finally snapping his eyes open, Haruka let out a small yawn and slowly sat on his bed. He turned his head to the side and found Rei, who was still lying on his bed, trying to reach the alarm on the floor with extended hand.

Haruka scooted closer to the gap between their beds, reaching for said alarm and handing it to Rei. It was a digital alarm clock framed by different kinds of animals huddling together. Most of them are marine animals, with an exception of a butterfly, who seemed to be out of place.

_Butterfly, penguin, killer whale, shark, and whale shark._

Although Haruka was silently wondering about the choices of animals, he didn't bother to ask Rei. The alarm clock told him it was already 6.40 A.M. Then again, if he was not mistaken, today was weekend. Not that Haruka had any obligation to do on normal days now.

After his battle with Makoto, Haruka was required to attend more entrance exams for many days to come. Haruka felt a little bit betrayed, considering Makoto had welcomed him as if he'd passed all the exams, but as Akihiko had said, they were definitely easier. He had to show pretty much everything he could do in front of some of the teachers. He also had to answer some paper-based personality questions, a little Math and English, IQ test and such. He silently prayed to whatever transcendent being out there so everything would go smoothly. He had a huge problem with English and he hoped it wouldn't cause him to get kicked out of school.

Following all the fuss about the exams, a couple of days off were given. Rei had promised him a little tour of the school on weekend, when he was free of any school obligation. Haruka spent his free days in the bathtub and sleeping. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until he threw his body on the bed. Sometimes he would wander around the school, taking a good look at its garden and the gym. He was delighted when he discovered a swimming pool inside the gym. Without thinking, Haruka stripped off his clothes and revealed his favorite black and purple jammers before jumping to the pool.

It was Makoto who found Haruka in the pool. Makoto let out a deep sigh, lecturing him about how appropriate it would be if he used the school's facility with permission. Yet, a smile immediately followed after, and Makoto stretched his hand toward Haruka in the pool. Haruka stared at the hand before he silently took it, letting Makoto pulled him out. Makoto's hand felt warm and comfortable, though.

That was yesterday.

Today was weekend, and if everything went as planned, then Rei had to take him around. The blue-haired teen adjusted his glasses as he examined the alarm clock in his hand. “Thank the spirit. It isn't broken.” Rei smiled in satisfaction. “Do you like the voices, Nanase-senpai? Soon I will add your spirit animal and your voice inside, too. Tell me when you're ready to get recorded. Say a nice 'good morning' message and it'll be done.”

“Good morning,” Haruka started to say, “This is Nanase Haruka.”

“Wait! I haven't prepared the recorder—“

“Get up. That's it.” The blue-eyed teen ended his message.

“T-that's it? Not so beautiful, Nanase-senpai.”

“You haven't recorded it, right? So no problem.” Haruka stood up from his bed and made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

 

“Nanase-senpai, I'm sorry if it's too sudden, but tonight, Makoto-senpai requires you to come to the front garden at 7 P.M.” Rei informed him as they walked around the empty corridors of the school. The corridors looked normal enough—modern, wide with glass windows at one side of the corridor. The floor consisted of tiles with diamond-shaped design.

“What for?”

“I honestly don't know. Makoto-senpai can be a bit strict, so if you want to please him, don't be late, Nanase-senpai. Remember that he has the privilege to reduce our points.”

“What's the use of these 'points'?” Haruka asked, feeling actually curious. Nagisa seemed a bit troubled when Makoto mentioned about cutting his points out.

“Points are taken from your hard work and attitude outside of school hours, under the supervision of the faction leader. It will greatly affect your final report card. In Iwatobi Academy, the top three students with the best report will get the special privilege to use an area of this school to their liking. An easy example is Makoto-senpai. Before he becomes a leader, Makoto-senpai made it to the top three. Now he owns a small secret garden at the backyard of his room. That's where he spends most of his free time. He said it's his little piece of heaven.” Rei explained, violet eyes glowing in enthusiasm. “As for Nagisa-kun, he said he wants to try to score his best so he can create a place where he can keep penguins as his pets.”

“What about you?”

“M-me...?” Rei smiled sheepishly before he exhaled a breath. “I'm still a first-year, but I hope I will be able to reach top three and have my own laboratory.”

“I see. Good luck, Ryuugazaki. You're working really hard.”

Rei's eyes widened before his smile turned to a happy one. “Yes! Most students don't bother with points, actually, since very few will get selected. Ah, I just remember—Nanase-senpai, don't you want to take a closer look of the Tree of Protection?”

Excited heartbeats reminded Haruka about how curious he was about the whole thing. “Yes, please.” He gulped as his dream rushed back to his memories—still as vivid as the first time he remembered it the moment he woke up. A dream of seeing Makoto there, weeping, trapped in his own agony, and bursting into light.

They strolled in steady steps outside of the school building and toward the backyard of their dorm. They passed the back garden with the gazebo and a fountain in it—the exact same one where Haruka first arrived at this world—until Rei finally approached an area with a lot of trees. As they penetrated inside, Haruka felt like he was now walking in a forest. The path is narrower, a bit steep as the ground was more curvy, and darker under the shades of many leaves. Multiple sun rays slipped themselves between the rich green leaves covering the area.

“Nanase-senpai, I've been wondering.” Rei finally spoke, his voice accompanying the sounds of their footsteps and trampled leaves. “Since you mentioned about Makoto-senpai having the sky spirit.”

_Oh._

“It's nothing.” Haruka answered a bit too hastily. He'd promised Makoto to keep his sky spirit a secret. “I just talked randomly.”

“Random? Are you sure, Nanase-senpai? Didn't seem like it.” Rei's brows scrunched up, unsatisfied, “Especially when your statement has that kind of similarity with the name of the tree. I can't believe it's mere coincidence. Nanase-senpai, you can trust—“

“I said it's nothing.” Haruka cut off. He clenched his jaw, eyes turned darker as they casted an ice-peak glare to Rei. He felt the urgency to protect Makoto's secret, even though he didn't even understand why Makoto had to keep it a secret.

Rei lowered his head, fingers nervously fidgeting. “I...” he sighed, “alright. Fine. There it is, Nanase-senpai. That's the tree.”

They finally stopped in front of a barbed wire fence. Several meters away, Haruka could see the giant roots of the tree, planted firmly to the ground. Rei pressed the fence with his palm. “We can't go further than this. Students are prohibited to approach the tree, but here should be enough if you want to witness it.”

It was exactly like the one in his dream. A huge giant tree that was so full of life. Even from the distance, Haruka could sense a very strong aura emanating from the tree. Yet, he couldn't tell for sure what kind of aura it was. A powerful aura of life and security, if that even made any sense. His heart beat with a new surge of power as he witnessed the tree this close. The tree seemed like it was giving Haruka a new spirit, revitalizing him, all weariness drifted away. With this kind of wonderful sensation by being nearer to it, he understood why evil spirits couldn't break such solid barriers the tree might have created.

“Tree of Protection—no. Sky of Makoto.” Rei's eyes shone, mesmerized by the sight. Beautiful glimmer crossed over his violet irises. Then, he closed his eyes and removed his red glasses. Rei lifted his hand. His finger wiped a single tear breaking out of his right eye.

“Ryuugazaki...?” Haruka broke his gaze from the tree, looking at Rei in confusion.

“It's nothing, Nanase-senpai. Let's go back.” When Rei raised his head and wore his glasses again, he smiled at Haruka. The trace of tear was no longer there.

* * *

 

“Senpai! It's already 6.43! Senpai!”

Haruka's head lazily cracked the surface of the water as he emerged and inhaled the air. He was relaxing in his bathtub and almost fell asleep again, if not for Rei's voice that was ringing like a bell. The loud, hard pounds against the bathroom door pushed Haruka's lips to turn down. With creases formed between his brows, Haruka stood up on his bathtub and stepped outside of it, grabbing his towel.

“Senpai!!”

“Ryuugazaki, I hear you.” Haruka wrapped the towel around his waist before making his way toward the door. The moment Haruka opened up his door, Rei was panting. A shade of red colored his entire face.

“You didn't come out of the bathroom since... like... an hour and fifty-two minutes ago—that I had to visit Nagisa-kun's room just to borrow his bathroom, Nanase-senpai!”

“Ah... sorry,” replied Haruka, softly.

“Oh, no, it's okay, Senpai. The most important thing is, please get properly dressed. We should be at the front garden at seven. We have only thirteen minutes to prepare and rush there!”

* * *

 

Even when the dusk was over, the front garden remained in its darkness. None of the garden lamps had been turned on. While he was walking, Haruka could barely see what was in front of him, if not for the silver moon reflecting its light to drench his body. He stopped by the giant fountain and sat onto its side, head turning around to look for Makoto.

Before Haruka could reach the front garden, Rei had exclaimed about forgetting an important matter and he had to go as soon as possible. The blue-haired teen scampered away, muttering something under his breath and leaving Haruka alone.

While closing his eyes, Haruka let himself engrossed in the calm, pleasing sounds of water drops behind him. He shifted his hand to the water, letting his fingers submerged in the lukewarm water. Grabbing a handful of water ball, Haruka began to shape it in the form of Iwatobi-chan, the school's mascot.

Like a shadow lurking in the dark, a familiar ethereal aura began to fill in the air. Haruka closed his eyes before crushing his water creation to bits and returned it to the fountain behind him. He slowly stood up, feeling the breathtaking aura radiating stronger until he heard footsteps.

“Haru?”

His ocean-blue eyes snapped open, and Haruka just realized that he had been holding his breath the whole time since he felt Makoto's aura approaching him. He thought he had gotten used to it, but sometimes it still could affect him in a way he didn't expect. Haruka turned his head to the side, finding Makoto walking toward him with gentle smile pasted over his lips and fluffy gaze of vivid, moonlit green eyes.

The sight induced both comfort and nervousness in Haruka. His heart fluttered, palms a bit sweaty, butterflies playing in the stomach. His eyes were focused on Makoto's irises. He craved the sight of Makoto smiling at him that it made him strangely elated.

“You came. This is great. Let's sit for a while.” Makoto stopped in front of him before relaxing himself on the side of the fountain. Haruka silently followed, sitting beside Makoto. This close, it wasn't just his soothing aura that felt like it was embracing Haruka's nervous body, but also the warmth of Makoto's natural presence that were affecting him. Being near Makoto gave Haruka a new sensation. It felt so right—like there was no other place more fitted for Haruka to stay.

“So,” Makoto began again, cracking a wider amiable smile, “how have you been?”

“Fine,” answered Haruka, softer than he intended. It must be caused by his nervousness. “Everything went good...”

Makoto exhaled a breath of relief. “I'm glad to hear that.” He chuckled, tilting his head as his gentle gaze rested deeper on Haruka. “I came here to say congratulations. You've passed all your tests, Haru.”

“Oh.” Haruka's cheeks burned a little at the announcement. He caught Makoto's eyes mirroring the same glimmers in Haruka's own eyes.

“We're on the same grade. Hopefully we can even attend the same class, Haru! Please meet me tomorrow at the lounge of Iwatobi dorm. I will take you to our tailor so you can be measured and we can quickly prepare your uniforms.” Makoto's voice went to a higher pitch in enthusiasm.

“Thanks.” Haruka finally smiled back, feeling the same relief and enthusiasm.

“And, by the way, Haru, did you wonder why it's so dark out here?”

“Kind of...” replied Haruka, “I don't know.”

“Come with me.” Makoto promptly stood up, reaching out his hand to Haruka. After staring at the hand for a full two seconds, Haruka took the hand and settled himself on his feet. Perhaps he should get used for another stretches of Makoto's hand toward him starting tonight. Makoto immediately released his hand after Haruka stood up. The brunet walked in front of him in hasty steps.

Haruka followed Makoto to a darker area with even less light. “Do a countdown. From ten,” said Makoto without looking back.

The other blinked in curiosity, but he began to count. “Ten, nine, eight...”

“Seven, six,” Makoto continued, stopping on his track, “Five, four...”

“Three...” Haruka stopped behind the other. Makoto turned to him, flashing his cheerful, sunshine smile that pushed his eyes to close. “Two...” Haruka blushed, feeling another flutter of his heart, “One.”

From a distance behind Makoto, a flash of blue light shot up to the sky and exploded with a loud crackle, torn apart like dandelions, its fragments fell like shooting stars before vanishing in the dark. More colorful lights shot up like rockets, burst into sparkling dandelions adorning the sky, their lights collided against one another. Haruka couldn't take his eyes off the continuous fireworks filling the dark night with colors. Their lights reflected within Haruka's admiring eyes.

“Haru,” Makoto's voice seized his attention. The brunet was smiling at him, eyes never left Haruka. He wasn't paying even a glance at the beautiful fireworks in the sky. With a head tilt, Makoto's eyes closed up as he smiled cheerfully at Haruka. “Happy birthday!”

“Birth...day...?”

“It's the thirtieth of June, Haru!” Makoto's eyes cracked open in disbelief, “Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday!”

“I...” Heat rushed through Haruka's cheeks, making them burn from the inside. It had been a while since the last time Haruka received a 'happy birthday', that he often forgot when the day actually came. Before his grandmother died, she'd forgotten about Haruka's birthday for a couple of years. Haruka was fully aware that his grandmother loved him, but it seemed like sometimes her memories didn't work as well as he'd hoped.

“Anyway, I know it's not much.” Deep blushes started to adorn Makoto's cheeks and lingered adorably there at the sides of his sunshine smile, “But these are our birthday presents for you, Haru. From me, Nagisa, and Rei.”

Haruka was happy—more than that, he was elated. A smile finally cracked up from his stiff lips. “Thank you, Makoto. To Ryuugazaki and Nagisa, too.”

“Uh-huh.” Makoto nodded, his smile still lingered there.

The fireworks finally stopped shooting from the ground. Night breeze started to caress their skin. In a matter of seconds, the breeze was blown to a more powerful gust of wind that slapped Haruka's cheeks and forced his eyes to close. “Haru-chaaan!” Nagisa's voice rang loudly and out of the blue from behind him. A pair of arms quickly embraced Haruka when Nagisa landed behind him, clinging on Haruka with cheerful laughter near his ears. “Happy birthday, Haru-chan!”

A flash of light blinded Haruka for a split second. An intense electrifying aura was soon following Nagisa's airy one, emanating strongly behind his back. Still with Nagisa clinging on him, Haruka finally managed to turn his head and found Rei smiling at him. “Nanase-senpai, I wish you a happy birthday.”

Haruka's smile turned gentle, feeling a surge of newfound happiness within this small circle of people he cared about. “Everyone, thank you.”

The three of his friends flashed each other a wide grin of satisfaction. They seemed genuinely happy with Haruka's reply. The blue-eyed teen couldn't understand why did Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa cherish him so much like a precious friend. Were they acting the same to the other students? Or was it only Haruka? Either way, Haruka treasured these warm feelings fluttering in his belly. Maybe it was what people called 'happiness'.

Nagisa had released Haruka, engaged in cheerful conversations with Makoto. When Haruka turned to Rei, he was no longer smiling. His roommate stared blankly at Makoto. His mind seemed to wander off. Finally, Rei regained his senses, spotting Haruka and managing a sheepish smile before he looked down to the ground.

Something was wrong.

* * *

 

Haruka was lying on his bed, eyes focused on the ceiling. Today was pleasing. A little tour around the school, taking a closer look to the Tree of Protection, getting a pleasant birthday surprise, strengthened bonds between them. Except for one thing that kept bothering him.

He closed his eyes and sat up on his bed. Rei was sitting by the study desk, fingers fumbling against an opened book in front of him. His mind was obviously not there with him. He'd been daydreaming since they went back to their room, violet eyes gazing off to the empty wall.

“Ryuugazaki.” Haruka called.

No answer.

“Ryuugazaki.” He tried again, furrowing his brows.

Rei's body shook a little in surprise. “Wha—what is it, Nanase-senpai?” He turned to Haruka, biting his lower lip in worry. Sadness never left his face since they parted ways with Makoto and Nagisa.

“What's bothering you?” Haruka asked in concern.

“I... you said it's nothing, right...?” Rei managed a sad smile.

Haruka gulped, feeling a bit nervous as he sensed what topic Rei was about to mention. “Why is it bothering you so much? About Makoto's... Sky...?”

“I'm afraid, Nanase-senpai.” Rei finally said, his voice trembled a bit.

That finally got Haruka. He bored his ocean-blue eyes onto Rei, waiting for more explanation.

“You read auras really well, and I really wish you could've read Makoto-senpai wrong. I'm afraid, if Makoto-senpai indeed has the sky spirit...” Rei trailed off, shrugging.

“What?”

“I read a lot.” Rei sighed, “And I've once read about the spirit of the sky from an old diary I found in the storage of my great-grandfather. The sky spirit is not something a person naturally has.”

Haruka knew he should stop this. He should stop poking around with someone else's sensitive secret. He was aware when Makoto wanted to keep it a secret, he had all the rights to keep it untold and oblivious to everyone. He knew he should cut Rei off, telling him to mind his own business.

Yet, his lips couldn't move to stop Rei. Curiosity got the better of him, his ears ready to listen. He felt like he'd betrayed Makoto this way.

“My great-grandfather wrote in his diary, that the people unfortunate enough to possess the sky spirit, with no exception, will disappear forever when they reach the age of seventeen, as if they never existed.”

The words escaping Rei's lips felt like a surge of shockwave to Haruka, alarming every sense in his body. It left uncomfortable tingling sensations on his skin, pulse died cold, heart frozen. His vivid dream about Makoto bursting into light after Haruka touched him invaded his mind.

“But you said it's nothing, right?” Rei immediately continued, forcing a laugh, “Makoto-senpai has no such thing! Right, Nanase-senpai? You just said something random at that time!”

When Haruka didn't even move an inch to respond as if he was petrified, Rei's laughter vanished.

“No.” Rei breathed, “Please answer, Nanase-senpai.”

He couldn't. He didn't even know how to react. Just several days ago he imagined a new life full of laughter, of a miraculous thing his grandmother called 'love'. Just days ago he imagined Makoto to always be there with him, sharing his soothing aura that made Haruka felt like he was finally home. Just days ago he felt like he'd discovered a missing piece of his soul, safe in his hands.

And it was just hours ago when he treasured the warm feelings he got from his friends and every smile and laughter escaping Makoto's lips. Just hours ago Haruka was elated with Makoto's presence near him, feeling like there was no place better for him to stay.

And now Rei was telling him that Makoto would disappear forever, and soon.

How could life treat him so cold and cruelly like this?

“Nanase-senpai.”

“Has Makoto reached seventeen yet?”

“Seventeenth of November this year.”

_Four months and a half until then._

“I see. Ryuugazaki,” Haruka didn't know how he had the energy to say it so calmly and casually. Probably because Makoto was just someone he'd just met. Or maybe, it was because he was so numb that he could feel nothing at all. “Please respect Makoto's secret and don't ever tell anyone. Not even to Nagisa. Pretend like you don't know anything about it. Besides, it could be wrong. It's just an old diary.”

Haruka knew he was just trying to fool himself.

“So it's... it's true...?” Rei looked like he had just been slapped in the face.

“...I could read it wrong. Makoto probably doesn't have that kind of spirit.”

“It's true.”

“Ryuugazaki—“

Rei's shoulders shuddered as more tears broke out from his glimmering eyes. “S-Senpai...”

Haruka stood up, approaching Rei by his desk. The moment he lifted his hand to touch Rei's shoulder, his fingers trembled along with it. “Rei,” Haruka said, tasting an establishment of a new, stronger relationship as the name rolled off his tongue, “everything will be okay.”

“Haruka-senpai...” Rei rested his chin on Haruka's shoulder, his body shaking even more. Warm, fresh tears started to dampen Haruka's shirt. “Haruka-senpai...”

 _Now shouldn't be too late,_ Haruka thought, _if I want to will myself not to fall for him and back away, now shouldn't be too late._

Rei had fallen for Makoto and now he was breaking. Haruka could avoid crushing his own self to pieces, if he decided to stay away from Makoto.

Yet, the more he thought about Makoto, the more Haruka cared less about his own heart.

If it was Makoto who broke it, maybe... he would be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for dropping a little 'bomb' at the end. Thank you for reading. The good morning messages were partly inspired by the Drama CD where Nagisa held a little contest about who had the most romantic morning greetings, or something like that. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. Hope we will meet again in the next chapter.
> 
> Warm regards,  
> Gariell


	8. Dream of Wings and Spiritual Breakthrough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you so much for your comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions! They're so encouraging and I appreciate each one of them. ^^
> 
> I'm sorry for the slow update. Although updates will be slower, I hope I can write more regularly. I'm writing slower now. Anyway, I won't babble too much here and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

As Haruka turned around, white dandelion puffs were dancing in the air, carried by their feathery parachutes. Gently blown by wind, the puffs gradually parted. They opened up his vision to a sun-kissed field of lively green grasses and white puffballs. Cool breeze ruffled his raven hair and caressed his cheeks. Haruka inhaled. Familiar fresh flowery aroma entered his demanding lungs.

He thought no place could be better than the endless ocean or the crystal clear river. No view could be more beautiful than a pristine waterfall or the richness of sea. Maybe he was wrong.

Haruka closed his eyes for a tranquil moment and opened them again. Now he wasn't alone in this field. Tachibana Makoto was standing in the middle of the green and white field, wearing his school uniform—this time with unbutton blazer, brown trousers and green necktie without dots.

The taller man was smiling, but he didn't see Haruka as his eyes were closed. Haruka couldn't think of anything else to do except approaching Makoto. He carefully walked through the sea of dandelion puffs. He couldn't help stepping on them a little as he made his way. As Makoto came closer to his vision, the brunet slowly released his dark gray blazer and draped it over his shoulders. He held the blazer firmly as it fluttered in the wind.

That was when Haruka saw it.

A soft, pure-white pair of wings lightly attached to Makoto's back. Its shy presence was hidden under the fluttering blazer. The wings weren't vivid—instead of feathers, they looked like they were formed by light and sunshine. Makoto turned and smiled warmly at Haruka before he opened his gentle droopy eyes—greener and livelier than the grass field surrounding them. Makoto loosened his hold until he released his blazer completely and let it blown away.

Haruka stopped in his position, lowering his ocean blue eyes and spotting a dandelion. It was a full-bloomed dandelion, with its lovely yellow petals and hundreds of florets forming its head. This dandelion was the only one that hadn't turned to a white puffball. Haruka crouched down, gently plucking it from the ground. Carrying the yellow dandelion with him, he continued to make his way toward Makoto.

Makoto was still smiling at him—a different smile that made his eyes more gentle and loving. Haruka smiled back, stopping in front of Makoto and lifted the yellow dandelion higher to Makoto's hair. He gently thrusted the flower between the strands of Makoto's olive brown hair, attaching it behind his left ear. This close, Haruka could inhale more whiffs of Makoto's flowery aroma.

His angel was gorgeous. More gorgeous than any flower, more precious than any treasure of the sea. Haruka slipped his fingers between Makoto's, holding them firmly and refusing to let go. He stood on his tiptoe and closed his eyes, heart throbbing wildly behind his chest, feeling heat burned his face and neck.

He could feel Makoto's face leaned closer. His warm breath caressed Haruka's lips. Then, Makoto kissed him. The kiss was chaste and shy, but Haruka felt unexpected surge of energy filling him—revitalizing his spirit, feeding it life and a new unexplainable sensation. Haruka immediately kissed back, trying to return the favor by transferring his own water spirit to flow inside Makoto. He didn't know if it was possible, but he felt like it was. With the light kiss, they were sealed as one. Their spirits were connected—solid and unbreakable.

_“Good morning! This is Ryuugazaki Rei—“_

Haruka grunted and Makoto chuckled between their slightly connected lips. As they broke the kiss, Makoto laughed a little more harder. “See you later, Haru-chan.” He giggled, gradually disappearing into light.

_No, no, no. Wait—_

_“Good morning! I am Hazuki Nagisa. I'll bring fresh morning breeze for you—“_

The field was starting to blur away. Haruka's arm hung in the air, as if he could grab the field and the remaining of Makoto's presence with his palm and pull them back.

_“Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto.”_

* * *

 

“Shut up, Makoto.”

Half-asleep, Haruka threw away the alarm clock beside his bed and let it crash onto the wall. Rei practically screamed, and with that, Haruka was completely snapped back to the world. “My beautiful creation!” Rei cried.

“I'm sorry.” Haruka muttered, although it came out flat and his expression was unintentionally annoyed. “I didn't mean to break it.”

“Haruka-senpai...” Rei clutched a strand of his blue hair in frustration.

“Perhaps you should remove Makoto's voice out from the alarm clock,” Haruka suggested, “it's bothering.”

Of course, by saying that, Haruka was lying—or probably not. Makoto's voice did bother him in its own mysterious way.

It was annoying.

“What time is it, anyway?” Haruka asked, trying to hold his yawn. As sleepiness crept in his eyelids again, he could vaguely remember the dream he'd just had. Makoto looking like an angel, with wings made of light and sunshine, smile made brighter with dandelion behind his left ear, and Makoto kissing him on the lips.

Haruka moved the tip of his finger to touch his dry lip. He couldn't remember how it felt like. His memory about the dream had started to drift away. Why did he dream about Makoto anyway? And they were kissing too. It wasn't like Haruka had a crush on Makoto, for mackerel god's sake. Sure, he was naturally drawn to Makoto. Sure, he enjoyed being near him and sucking his soothing aura. He also admitted that Makoto's healing wave was addicting.

But that was that. It didn't mean he was romantically attracted to Makoto. Haruka's life was and would never be romantic. He believed he was probably water-sexual, not some-random-brunet-sexual. His lips formed a thin line of annoyance as his face flushed against his will. Now he couldn't get Makoto's smiling face out of his head. He mentally smacked that stupid grin on Makoto's face in his mind, trying to shoo it away.

Good thing he just dreamed about kissing Makoto in a field of dandelions. It was a pretty sweet dream, not an erotic one like those very rare wet dreams he had once in a long while. It would be hard for him to explain to Rei if he had a wet dream. Rei would probably notice the damp sheets on Haruka's bed.

Rei had stood up from his bed to pick up the alarm clock. He sighed before reporting, “It's four thirty.”

"Four thirty.” Haruka repeated. Rei could sometimes set his alarm clock very early in the morning if he had projects he had to finish or a new material he had to study before school. School started at eight, so Haruka had plenty of time to sleep, or bath, or probably...

_“Good morning! This is Ryuugazaki Rei.”_ Rei's voice blared out from the clock.

“Thank the spirit. It's still working.” Rei released a breath of relief. He listened to the alarm clock's continuous messages, making sure it still works properly until the last message. When Makoto's voice replaced Nagisa's, Haruka's ears were set.

_“Good morning! This is Tachibana Makoto. Um... I hope you will spare your time to visit the garden and enjoy the scents and beauty of the flowers—“_

The blue-eyed teen sat up on his bed. The garden wasn't a bad option. He had enough sleep already. As he processed Makoto's recorded words in his mind, a tiny piece of Haruka's heart hoped that he would be able to meet Makoto in this time of the day in the garden. Of course, Haruka completely ignored this tiny piece of his heart. Makoto didn't matter to him. He just wanted to feel the garden at dawn, finding out how it would affect him and if it could be as good as the water.

No more than that.

With that thought running in his mind, Haruka began to change and put on his new pair of sneakers—a pair he'd bought together with Makoto on one of his free days before school. Makoto had done a favor of accompanying him to different sides of the school he'd never seen before. One of them was a shopping street exclusive for students and teachers to shop for their needs.

Students were prohibited to go out of the main gates of the school, unless they had special permission, or wished to go home for holidays. Students would most likely be sent straight home to their parents or guardians. Haruka understood why, as Makoto had explained about it before. Evil spirits were wandering outside the gates, both personified or not. Only the graduates were trusted to have enough ability to fight off the spirits on their own.

Haruka often wondered about what kind of world could be waiting outside those gates. Was it beautiful? Was it some sort of a wasteland? Did this world have the endless ocean and the everlasting stream of river?

Questions kept coming to his head, but he kept them shut from this world—a world that could be more dangerous and untrustworthy than Haruka had previously thought.

* * *

 

It was still a bit dark outside.

The wind ruffled each strand of Haruka's dark hair as he steadily charged forward. The wind was like the water. The wind was also alive. Once he dashed forward, it would immediately bare its fangs and attack, but there was nothing to fear. He shouldn't resist the wind. He should thrust his fingers forward and carve an opening, then slid his body through it while he moved his arms, his head, his chest.

Or so Haruka kept thinking as he jogged in the quietness and loneliness of cool dawn air. When fresh flowery aromas tickled his nose, he knew he was near the garden. Haruka took a turn, running through the path of the garden. He moved his head to each side, eyes devouring the starlit colors of various flowers and vegetations.

The garden was quiet—the kind of quiet he loved. Serene, tranquil, peaceful. He could hear soft whistles of wind, the bugs and birds singing, the leaves and petals rustlings. Haruka couldn't decide which one he loved more—the garden at night with Makoto singing with his instrument, or the garden at dawn with its beautiful silence. Like Makoto had mentioned in his recorded message, it was indeed a perfect place for meditation.

Haruka stopped by the gazebo where he and Makoto spent the night together before the day of their battle. It was now empty, safe for the bright lamp lighting up the small place. He lingered there for a while to catch his breath. Haruka stretched his arms and watched the flowers quivering in the soft breeze. His most recent dream formed up again in his memory. Haruka didn't know why, but his chest ached.

Makoto was disappearing into light again in his dream.

Just how many times he had to lose Makoto? If Rei's story about the sky spirit was true, then even in reality, he would lose Makoto anyway. Why did he had to lose him even in his dreams? It was like torture. Haruka had considered Makoto a friend—no, even more than that. Haruka himself couldn't pinpoint Makoto's exact location in his heart. He should stand together with Rei or Nagisa, but that didn't seem right. It seemed like Makoto had his own special place, but Haruka didn't know where.

“Meditating?”

A familiar voice snapped Haruka out of his current thought. He slowly turned, spotting Matsuoka Rin smiling at him. Rin was panting, the temple of his head and his body were covered with sweat. His maroon hair was tied in a small ponytail. He rested his hand on the hip. “Matsuoka...?” Haruka blinked. He didn't expect to find him here.

“Wait, you're sweaty. I bet you're jogging. Care to do it together? We can do it while watching the sunrise.” Rin offered, wiping sweats dampening his temple with his arm. “Have you seen Makoto? Sometimes he would jog around or meditate here. I haven't seen him today. Perhaps he's skipping for the day.”

“I see.” Haruka took another deep breath before running lightly beside Rin.

Rin kept his own pace and unintentionally left Haruka behind. As they noticed the gap, Haruka tried to speed up, while Rin took a slower pace. He was still at some distance away in front of Haruka. “Or probably he's meditating in his own garden.”

“The one he earned for being a top three...” Haruka said between heavy breaths.

“Yeah, although...” Rin slowed his pace to match with Haruka's. “Don't tell anyone about this, but I think Makoto's own garden isn't the best.” Rin's playful smile showed up his row of sharp teeth. “If you're close enough to Makoto, he will more likely show you his garden. You'll understand what I mean.”

_So you're close to Makoto,_ Haruka thought, surprising himself by feeling a tint of jealousy.

“Well, I think I am.” Rin answered. Haruka just realized that he'd just voiced out his thought. Rin slowed his pace even more, studying Haruka's eyes. A knowing grin cracked up on his lips. His eyes narrowed. “Hmm, I see. Seems like something is blossoming here.”

“What...?” Haruka's face went hotter. He must felt fatigue sooner than he'd hoped.

“Nothing.” Rin said, shaking his head. “Anyway, Nanase, how's your life here? Do you like it?”

“I do.” Haruka admitted, feeling warmth in his chest.

“Today is your first day attending class, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Excited?”

“Not really.”

“You don't talk much, do you?” Rin kindly stated. “Makoto said you're similar to Sousuke, like how you both are quiet. I agree. I think you two are identical. Not to mention the somewhat similar spirits you have. Water and ice. Well associated, aren't they?”

“Not really.”

“Do you have anything else to say beside that?”

Haruka was quiet.

“You're worse than Sousuke. I give up.” Rin let out a small laugh. After an exhausting run for quite a long period of time, Rin lifted his eyes toward the sky. “Look. Sunrise.”

They finally stopped, drinking from their own water bottles and sitting on the bench. They watched in silence as the sun dressed in gold greeted them. It didn't take long for Haruka's attention to drift away toward the plants and flowers surrounding them, showing their true colors through sunshine.

“It may be late, but good morning, Nanase.” Rin grinned at him. “See you later at training ground.”

* * *

 

Haruka said with the flattest tone possible, “My name is Nanase Haruka. I possessed the water spirit. I belong to Iwatobi faction. I can sculpt and shape water, and I only swim free.” He bowed a little in front of a number of students wearing PE uniforms. Just like Haruka had suspected from Rin's words that morning, he was introduced in some sort of a training ground, a large field surrounded by school buildings. Haruka spotted his water source for training: medium-sized fountains attached to the building's walls.

His first subject for the day was something that was called “Spiritual Combat”. He had a strong feeling that he wouldn't like the subject. Haruka found out that the students of Iwatobi faction and Samezuka faction attended their classes together, despite them wearing different uniforms. If Rin didn't tell him beforehand, he would be surprised to find Rin standing among the students he introduced himself to.

Much to Haruka's relief, Makoto was also there. He was smiling his usual amiable smile, radiating a comfortable warm aura that seemed to double the sunshine pouring over their bodies. He looked especially proud when Haruka mentioned about him belonging to Iwatobi faction. Sousuke was standing in between Makoto and Rin, hands in his pocket. Haruka didn't know if he was just imagining it, but it seemed like Sousuke was smiling at him—a smile so faint that ghosted across his lips.

“I believe most of you have known him,” the coach said. His new teacher wasn't easy to forget. Sasabe Gorou had his hair colored gold, leaving a bit of his original brown hair in a shape of a star on the left side of his hair. “Nanase Haruka, the famous water teleporter. Despite spending most of his battle time sleeping, he managed to fulfill the challenge Tachibana Makoto gave him. That was quite impressive.” Gorou crossed his arms, nodding in approval. “Alright, go back to your line, Nanase.”

Haruka silently made his way back among the students, standing not too far away from Makoto. He couldn't help wanting to be near someone he was at least familiar with. He caught Makoto's green eyes, which turned a lot softer as the brunet flashed him a gentle smile. Haruka felt his cheeks burn—just a little—before he instinctively turned his head away, trying to hide his conflicted emotions that might have shown on his face.

Until this day, he couldn't take his mind off Rei's story about the sky spirit. If his story was true, then Makoto was being cruel to him. He shouldn't have that kind of smile, being so friendly and gentle, blossoming the flowers in people's hearts—in Haruka's heart, at least. He should stop making people fall for him. That smile should be illegal.

Rei was one victim.

Haruka wasn't sure if he wanted to be another victim.

“Go find someone to be your opponent. You're going to do the usual practice with each other.” Gorou rested his hands to his hips, “Nanase, since you're new to this and you possess the water spirit, I think Matsuoka will be a good battle opponent for you. He has fire spirit, which will naturally give you an advantage, and he will teach you the basics. Right, Matsuoka?” He lifted his thumb up, grinning and winking at Rin.

“Sure.” Rin said with a smile, turning his body to Haruka. “Ready, Nanase? I'll help you with the practice.”

“That's great. Matsuoka, I'm leaving all the students in your care. I have something really important to attend to.” Gorou grinned, although a little sheepish. “I assure you, it's really important!”

Rin took a deep breath in understanding. “Sure, Coach. Take care.”

“I'll come back as soon as possible.” The coach promised before he rushed away. A sigh was released from Haruka as he made his way toward Rin. He took a brief time to glance at Makoto, who was laughing in front of Sousuke as they talked. Haruka couldn't imagine anything funny coming out from someone grumpy-looking and stone-faced like Sousuke, but he could be wrong. It wasn't like Haruka had met that many people anyway. Just like Haruka had predicted, Makoto had paired with Sousuke. They started to separate themselves from the crowd of students, taking a small area in the corner.

“Want to take a space near them?” Rin offered, “So you won't feel too awkward. You seem relaxed when Makoto's around.”

“Oh...” Without saying anything else, Haruka nodded in silent agreement. They pulled themselves away from the other students, approaching Makoto and Sousuke. When Haruka was close enough, Makoto turned toward him.

“Haru!” He exclaimed, looking enthusiastic, “Great. We should stay close to each other. Good luck, Haru. I'm sure you'll do fine. Rin, are you going to explain the rules?”

“Yeah, don't worry about that. He's in the right hands.” Rin smiled at them, “Just concentrate on your training.”

“Sure. Good bye for now, Haru.” Makoto walked away with Sousuke, but thankfully they were still close enough to Haruka and Rin.

“What we're going to do here is a spiritual combat,” Rin began to explain, “unlike elemental combat, when we do spiritual combat, we completely rely on spirits. Your spirit inside you gives your body an elemental ability, such as this.” Rin lifted his hand, producing fire that licked around his forearm, “My fire spirit gives my body an ability to produce fire. This is allowed in elemental combat, but not in spiritual combat. The basic rule of spiritual combat is try to go beyond your limit. How to do that? By establishing a link to the spirits outside your body.”

Rin clasped his hands in front of his chest and concentrated. A circle of fire started to form, creating a firewall around him. The wall protected Rin up to his waist. “What differentiate this firewall from the fire I just produced with my arm?”

“The firewall wasn't created through your body.” Haruka answered, “It's produced by fire spirits outside your being.”

“You got it right.” Rin nodded, letting the fire slowly dissipate. “You don't need to pray in order to shape water, because it's something you naturally can do. It's a mere gift from your water spirit. But you do need to pray in order to summon rain. It's beyond you to control, and you need to create a good link with more water spirits so they will do the job for you. This is the basic of spiritual combat. Fight me,” Rin slapped a hand to his chest, “with the power of the water spirits connected to you.”

Haruka tried to remember the moment when he tried to summon rain. He imagined himself being one with the water and falling to the ground. Also, he was able to do water teleportation because he merged with the water. Was it the same as establishing a connection to the water spirits outside? Haruka frowned and lifted his hand. “Question.”

“Spill.” Rin raised a brow.

“What about merging?” Haruka asked, “I merged with the falling rain, that's why I could do water teleportation.”

“Sounds more like something you do with your own body.” Rin answered, “It's not an established connection to the water spirits outside your being. Even when you're concentrating, you're simply communicating with your own water spirit. Then, what about when you summoned the rain?”

“Same.” Haruka said, “I tried to merge with the water. I imagined myself falling.”

“Interesting.” Rin rubbed his chin, “So basically you did no spirit connection in the battles?”

“Not true... I guess.” Haruka replied, although only out of speculation, “I summoned the waves by mentally asking it. Then again, I think I might have begged for the rain to fall as well.”

“When you summoned the rain, probably you didn't merge with it, but you suggested the water spirits connected to yours to fall as rain. It's possible to do that. When your own water spirit is strongly connected to the outer spirits, they're in sync. In that case, when you're communicating with your own spirit, you're also communicating with the outer spirits. Make sense?”

“I think I get it.” Haruka nodded.

“Good. Ready to start now?” Rin settled himself some distance away in front of Haruka. “Remember. Do not use your body. Ask the spirits outside, or ask your own spirit that had been connected to the spirits outside. Look at Sousuke and Makoto, if you wish.”

Haruka obediently turned, finding Makoto and Sousuke standing not far from them. None of them moved. It was like their feet were planted on the ground. While Sousuke calmly pushed his hands in his pocket and seemed to be doing nothing, Makoto joined his hands in front of his chest and had his eyes closed. They were both as still and quiet as a rock. Except that Haruka noticed how Makoto was nearly frozen in ice and left immobile, and Sousuke's body was trapped in place with overgrown vines.

A monstrous flower crawled out from the ground behind Sousuke. It was shaped like those carnivorous plants Haruka had seen in some story books. It had sharp teeth and wide mouth, seemingly ready to eat Sousuke from behind. Acidic liquids dripped from its mouth to the ground, evaporating to smoke. The size of its mouth could swallow Sousuke whole, although Haruka doubt Sousuke's body could pass its narrow stem. Sousuke's face showed signs of fear, but he covered it with a frown and cold eyes directed to Makoto.

Haruka felt grateful he didn't have any one of them as his opponent. “Oi, you two!” Rin called, “Don't kill each other.”

“We won't.” Sousuke managed to say. Haruka caught his voice quivering a little bit. Makoto seemed unable to speak in his frozen state, but Haruka hoped Makoto heard Rin loud and clear. Sousuke shuddered as the monstrous flower studied its prey, its head moving around near him, mouth gaped open like a hungry wolf. “Oi, Nanase. Stop looking at us. Rin's going to attack.” He grunted, looking somewhat annoyed.

When Haruka turned around, balls of fire were being shot at him. Haruka awkwardly dodged the attack, rushing toward the fountain and gathered water from it. He created a wall of water for barrier.

“Hey! I've said before, don't use your body.” Rin protested, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Out from thin air, fires were ignited and swirled around Rin's body. Haruka watched the fires in wary.

“Give me time.” He snapped, slowly lowering his barrier as carefully as possible. His mind kept concentrating to connect his spirit.

_Form up a wave. Come on._

Haruka took a quick glance at the water in the fountain. It didn't react.

The fires swirling around Rin began to huddle in front of the maroon-haired teen, forming a large fireball. Just like Sousuke, Rin had his hands relaxed in his pockets, doing nothing at all. “Stop trying to fight the fire spirits, Nanase.” He warned, “You're not their opponent. Summon the water spirits.”

“I'm trying.” Haruka gritted his teeth, taking another peek to the water in the fountain. _Come on,_ he thought, _the fires are annoying, aren't they? They make hot day becomes hotter. Shoo them away. Form up a wave._

The water didn't budge.

_Do whatever you want,_ Haruka thought, getting frustrated.

A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

_Nanase Haruka._

Haruka's eyes snapped wide open. He looked around in confusion. Nobody had called him. Could it be that he'd just heard something inside his head? Then again, that voice calling his name was exactly the same as his own voice.

_Nanase Haruka,_ his own voice rang in his head again, _just who do you think you are?_

“Nanase? Are you alright?”

_That is not a way to summon me,_ the voice continued, _why would I bother with fire spirit? So you can show off?_

Haruka bit his lower lip, fist clenching. “Who are you?” He muttered to himself.

“I'm sorry, what did you say?” Rin asked, his fire had dissipated. He observed Haruka with new interest.

_I am the spirit of water,_ the voice answered, _dweller of your soul._

The water spirit was talking to him. It finally talked to him. _No kidding._ He always thought the spirit was as silent as river rock. This was the first time Haruka had ever communicated with his water spirit like this.

“Why do you talk to me now?” Haruka asked, “I didn't know you could talk.”

“Nanase, are you talking to yourself?” Rin narrowed his eyes. Haruka ignored him.

_I am free to do what I want,_ the spirit stated in Haruka's cold voice.

“So... are you going to help me through this, or not?” Haruka muttered again. Rin had stopped trying to interrupt his monologue.

_Sure,_ said the spirit, _rest assured. I'll do everything._

The fountain beside him suddenly burst out in uncontrollable stream of water.

“Whoa, is the pipe leaking or something?” Rin instinctively took a step back. Before Haruka could answer, powerful streams of water burst out from all the fountains attached to the wall. The surge of water began to move on its own in the air, huddling in a rush and forming up a long, gigantic water dragon towering over them. A type of water dragon similar to what he'd only seen in fantasy books about sea monsters.

Haruka's mouth gaped open in awe. The entire scene had taken all the students' attention. Rin's eyes were blown wide. Sousuke gawked, his jaw dropping very low.

_“What the hell!?”_ Rin shouted, utterly flabbergasted. His lighted a fire with his arm, well aware that it could do him no good. In his defense, more fires began to form around Rin, creating a protective fire pillar, almost as tall as Haruka's spiritual water dragon. It should be the fire spirits' creation.

_Remember when you're young?_ The spirit asked him, _When you felt like a hero the moment your grandmother announced my presence inside you? Be a hero, then._

The water dragon moved forward in a swift motion, crashing its long body to Rin's fire pillar. As both elements collided, the fire heated up the large body of water to nearly boiled. The heavy volume of hot water fell in powerful stream toward Makoto. Haruka's eyes widened in horror. “Wait, stop!” He almost screamed.

The water crashed onto Makoto's frozen body, melting all the ice trapping him and pushing his body in the stream. The water slammed Makoto hard against the wall, leaving his body crashing to the ground before it huddled together again and merged itself with the water dragon. “Wha—“ Makoto coughed. He'd swallowed some of the hot water in the process. Face flushed because of the heat, Makoto tried to sit up. His green eyes widened in shock as they stared at the gigantic water dragon. _“Just what is going on here?”_ He cried, horrified by the entire scene.

“Makoto, are you alright?” Haruka quickly rushed to his side, crouching down and holding his arm with trembling hand. Instead of answering Haruka, the brunet glanced around, back and forth between Haruka and the water dragon.

“What's going on!?” Makoto repeated in panic.

“Calm down, Makoto.” Haruka gave a little squeeze on his arm. His water dragon was charging through Rin's fire pillar, parts of its body crashed toward the ground as boiling hot water. The other students scattered away in panic, trying to dodge the boiling hot water.

“Haru, did you summon _that?”_ Makoto asked, turning serious. He was shaking, and Haruka realized that it could be anger.

He gulped. “I—“

“Stop this _right now,_ Nanase Haruka. You're putting people in danger.” Makoto said, his tone undeniably firm. Haruka's heart sank. He'd never heard Makoto talked to him this way. Then again, Makoto was his faction leader now. Of course he could act this way toward Haruka.

“I didn't do it. It isn't my fault.” Haruka grumbled.

“Haru, it's a _water_ dragon. Who else could be responsible for this—“

“I said I didn't do it!” Haruka snapped. He didn't expect his emotional system to be defensive, but here he was, trying to rebel against his faction leader. “The water spirits moved on their own! It's beyond me to control, but sure, blame me because it's _freaking_ water!”

“Haru!” Makoto was taken aback. He didn't expect this reaction coming from Haruka. The blue-eyed teen was burnt in erratical feelings, anger being one of them. Haruka was completely aware that he was acting childish.

“I can't do anything about it!” Haruka shouted, feeling his blood boiling. “Stop blaming me for everything!”

“I didn't blame you for _everything—“_ Before Makoto could finish his words, the water dragon had turned and bared its gigantic teeth as it charged toward them.

Toward Makoto, Haruka realized in a split moment of dread.

Haruka gasped and was paralyzed in place as he saw his water dragon engulfed Makoto with its mouth, shutting it close and trapping Makoto to drown inside its body. Haruka quickly stood up, trying to reach Makoto and pull him out of the water, but much to his surprise, he couldn't even thrust his hand through the dragon's body. Unlike Haruka's water ball, this thing was more solid. It was like there was an invisible barrier preventing him to enter the body of water.

_This is nightmare._

Only this time, Haruka was sure this wasn't nightmare. Everything felt too real.

“Stop.” Haruka muttered, clutching his hair with firm grip until his knuckles turned white. “Stop, please.”

_Do you get it?_ The spirit's voice echoed in his mind, _Not all water can be tamed. Prove yourself worthy to the spirits before you command them._

“I get it.” Haruka whimpered in frustration. Makoto was drowning before his eyes, but Haruka could do nothing to save him. “I get it, now let him go!” Haruka repeated, extending his hand toward Makoto's outstretched arm. Before they could touch, the dragon straightened up toward the sky, taking Makoto farther away from his grasp.

Then, the water dragon began to fall apart, its body gradually crumbling as heavy rain. Makoto's limp body fell with the rain. Haruka dashed forward, attempting to catch Makoto. At the same time, Makoto's carnivorous plant grew instantly longer and shot past Haruka. It caught Makoto's falling body and wrapped his waist safely with its thick vines. The plant carefully lowered Makoto to the ground, and in seconds, all the students gathered around him.

“Makoto!” Haruka fell to his knees beside Makoto. He almost cried in relief when he found out that Makoto was still conscious. “Makoto?” He shook his body lightly.

Makoto managed a weak smile, then turned his head away to vomit some water out. He coughed, “I'm... I'm fine.”

“I'm...” Haruka couldn't think straight as he was still in panic. “I'm so sorry. Are you really okay? You shouldn't move around—“

“It's alright, Haru.”

“But I put you in danger. I almost—“

Warm big hands rested on both his trembling shoulders. Makoto held him firmly in position. “We're all still learning. Accidents happen once in a while. Sometimes they're unavoidable.” Makoto said, his green eyes stared hard at Haruka's. Then, he lowered his eyes. He looked somewhat ashamed. “It's okay and I'm also sorry, Haru. I shouldn't corner you like that, especially in your emotional state. You were in shock, just like the others.”

After hearing Makoto's apology, Haruka felt like a complete jerk. “I'm sorry,” he muttered, but he knew Makoto had heard him, “For everything I've said and done. For accusing you like that.”

A warm smile adorned Makoto's lips. He shook his head. “It's okay, and I'm sorry, as well.”

When Haruka had finally calmed down, they smiled to each other.

Haruka helped Makoto to stand up. When Gorou came back, he was in total dismay. Rin had tried to convince him that everything was fine. There had been a little accident, but nobody was injured. The coach sincerely apologized to all his students for not being there with them in such situation. He was instantly forgiven. Haruka could see that despite his appearance, Sasabe Gorou was a beloved coach.

At the end of the session, Haruka expressed his apology to the other students. Makoto helped him speak up, defending him that it wasn't his fault. It was beyond Haruka's control, as it was done completely by the wandering water spirits. As Haruka's faction leader, Makoto also stated that he was responsible for the accident.

He didn't know if it was because the students were simply tolerable, or because Makoto spoke for him, but his apology was accepted.

* * *

 

In the changing room, Haruka was staring blankly at his summer uniform. He couldn't take the accident out of his head. Out of a sudden, Rin's voice distracted his train of thought. “Nanase.”

Haruka silently turned toward Rin. His grip went firm on his folded uniform.

Rin looked around, making sure nobody paid attention to them. Then he began to ask in low volume, “When is your birthday?”

The blue-eyed teen blinked. He didn't expect such question, especially after what happened. “Thirtieth of June. Why?”

“So you've turned seventeen just recently?”

Haruka nodded as a response.

“Happy belated birthday.” A grin cracked up on Rin's lips. He held out a hand, prompting Haruka to do a handshake.

Haruka took Rin's hand. “Thanks.” He said shyly.

“Look, I think I know what was going on in that training ground.”

His sentence successfully gained Haruka's full attention. He looked up at Rin, curiosity had taken over all the other emotions swirling in his head.

“Sousuke and Makoto don't know about this, since they're still sixteen. I turned seventeen this February, and I experienced something extraordinary.” Rin took a deep breath, “The moment I saw you muttering to yourself, I suspected something I've also experienced. Tell me, did you just directly communicate with your water spirit? Like, you heard it spoke sentences to you in your own voice, and in your own head?”

That was exactly what Haruka had experienced. Despite his lack of answer, Haruka's expression was obvious enough for Rin to take that as a yes.

“Congratulations. That's a gift you would receive for turning seventeen.” Rin smiled at Haruka, “Don't tell anyone about that new ability of yours. Also, I think your spirit seemed so powerful. Next time, we should do a real combat. I can't wait to battle against you, Nanase.”

When Haruka's eyes found Rin's, he recognized an entirely different feeling in his chest. A new feeling of friendly competition and rivalry.

“You're going to participate in the spring tournament, right?” Rin's shark teeth seemed to get sharper as he grinned. “Two on two. Find and choose your partner carefully. I hope I'll be able to see you on final.”

_A tournament. Two on two._

He didn't feel like participating in it. Too much effort. Yet, when he imagined Makoto standing beside him as his battle partner, and Rin in front of him as his opponent, he was invaded by an unpredictable feeling of excitement.

It didn't take long for Haruka's heart to sink again. A spring tournament, he silently noted.

Makoto would've been gone by then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading up until this point. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated. See you again in the next chapter. Cheers.


	9. Natural Familiarity and Malicious Spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for your supports for me in this fic, either expressed with words or silently, I appreciate them so much! ^^
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Haruka and Makoto rested their backs against freshly cut grasses and white dandelion puffs. Their hands tangled against each other, fingers entwined. They were watching the fat puffy clouds swimming in the sky. The place was quiet, safe for singsongs of birds and swishing of wind ruffling the grasses. It was the kind of quiet Haruka loved the most—a comfortable silence of enjoying Makoto's presence near him. No words needed to be spoken. Just a mere knowledge of Makoto staying by his side was more than enough to define his personal piece of heaven.

He could stay like this forever. Yet, it was Makoto who first broke the silence between them.

 _“Ne,_ Haru.”

Haruka slowly blinked before shifting his attention toward Makoto. His angel had his green eyes closed. If Makoto didn't call him just now, he would assume that Makoto had fallen asleep. He patiently waited for Makoto to continue his sentence.

“If I die, what will Haru do?”

Tightening his grip between Makoto's fingers, Haruka squeezed his lips firm before opening them to speak. No matter how hard Haruka tried to compose himself, he couldn't help his shaky voice. “If Makoto dies, I will—“

For an unknown reason, Haruka couldn't even hear his own words. He didn't even know what he'd told Makoto. He could only see Makoto's serene expression as he listened to Haruka's inaudible reply. A faint smile adorned his lips as Makoto's gaze turned even more gentle. “Haru,” Makoto began again, “just be free.”

“I don't want to.” Haruka quickly replied, “I need you by my side. Anyway, what about you, Makoto? If I die, what will you do?”

“I've said this before. I'll forever stay by your side.”

* * *

 

Another dream. The same field of dandelion puffs. The same pair of uniforms. The same comfort of Makoto's presence.

Haruka had dreamt about them at least three times throughout his first week of school days. He couldn't understand why he kept dreaming about Makoto in a field of dandelions. If these dreams happened so frequently, they must hold some kind of a meaning. They probably didn't contain a mere sign of his crush on Makoto. They must meant something deeper than that.

And no. He didn't have a crush on Makoto. Not at all. Makoto was a good friend, better than the others, but that was that. Ever since the water dragon incident, the bond between Haruka and Makoto was naturally tightened. Although Haruka and Makoto were separated by different dorm buildings, Haruka happened to be in the same class as Makoto and received a permanent seat beside him. His faction leader patiently taught the things Haruka needed to learn, admired every single piece of Haruka's water art, invited him to have lunch together (mostly on rooftop), and walked him back to his dorm after school. Makoto's dorm stood farther, around half a kilometer away from Haruka's.

Sometimes Haruka would think that Makoto kept himself close to Haruka simply because Haruka could be troublesome. Maybe Makoto was just there to make sure he didn't drown an entire school or whatever. It could explain why Makoto seemed so friendly—if not clingy—toward him. Perhaps Makoto was just trying to fulfill his role as Haruka's faction leader. Yet, whenever Haruka thought about that, he felt like it was wrong. Him spending time with Makoto and vice-versa seemed so natural and not at all forced.

On Friday of his first school week, Makoto couldn't accompany him like usual. He was required to attend an urgent meeting with his father, the school's headmaster. Watching Makoto dashed out of the school building, Haruka thought about why the headmaster's room was located not in the school building. It was in fact located in another building—the small palace-like place he entered with Makoto on the day of his arrival to this spiritual realm.

That day when Makoto left him for a meeting, Haruka realized that he had quickly adapted to Makoto's presence near him. He felt weird the moment Makoto wasn't by his side at school. He experienced funny feelings of loneliness and confusion because he simply didn't know what to do at lunch break without Makoto around. There was an emptiness—a hollow space—in his chest as he ate lunch at the rooftop by himself. This new sensation was weird, judging from the fact that Haruka was used to do things alone and enjoy solitude.

Putting Makoto aside, there was his water spirit. It didn't talk to him at all ever since the incident. He tried to talk about it with Rin, who also happened to be in the same class as Haruka, along with Sousuke. His redhead friend told him it was normal. Rin barely talked to his fire spirit either, but he felt like he'd established a good relationship with his own fire spirit. Their rare inner conversations appeared to be quite friendly, Rin had told him.

Letting out a sigh, Haruka shoved a piece of grilled mackerel to his mouth, munching it slowly.

Today was another Monday after his first week of school. The Spiritual Combat class was going smoothly this morning. Rin accompanied him again, but this time, Haruka failed to even move the water to his desire. The best he could do was summoning a little wave from a single fountain near him, which did no damage to his opponent. Rin reassured him that all Haruka needed was more practice and meditations.

“Haru, you really love mackerel.” Makoto said, peeking at Haruka's lunch box. Something had filled the hollowness in his chest again when Makoto rejoined him by his side. Last Friday's lunch break was awkward and lonely. Haruka was grateful Makoto had enough free time to spend with him. As a faction leader, at least his lunch break wasn't interrupted often.

Haruka found no need for him to reply Makoto's remark. The brunet just smiled brightly at him, opening the lid of his own lunch box. It was full of rice, meat and vegetables. “You eat a lot,” Haruka finally commented, although he'd noticed Makoto's portion on his very first day of school. Makoto blushed a little, his finger lightly scratched the pink tinge on his cheek.

“I do. It's embarrassing to admit this, but you see... I'm a big guy.” Makoto smiled, shifting closer to the wall to lean against it.

“It's okay. A person your size has to eat more than that. Who prepared your lunch for you?” Haruka asked. Usually he would accompany Makoto to buy lunch in the school's cafeteria, but today Makoto brought his own lunch. Makoto had also confessed to him about his terrible cooking, so Haruka couldn't help but wonder about that.

“Uh,” Makoto looked slightly embarrassed, “it's Sousuke.”

Haruka unconsciously clenched his fist. The moment he realized what he was feeling right now was jealousy, his cheeks burned a little. “So you're close to Yamazaki.”

“Huh? Yes, I am.” Any hint of embarrassment and blushes on Makoto's cheeks had vanished in an instant. “He's a good friend of mine, but Sousuke is much more closer to Rin. Usually he prepares his lunch for Rin and himself, since they're roommates, but once in a while he would prepare more portions for me as well. He thinks my habit of constantly buying foods from the cafeteria isn't good for my health.”

Haruka crushed another piece of mackerel with his teeth. “I...”

“Yes, Haru?” Makoto pinched a piece of lettuce-wrapped meat with his chopsticks. He lifted the food to his mouth as he watched Haruka, prompting him to continue.

Haruka stared down at his own lunch. His lips quivering just a little bit. “I can cook for you from now on.”

The lettuce-wrapped meat slid itself out of his chopsticks' grasp. The saucy meat fell on Makoto's lap, leaving an ugly stain on his trousers. After a blink, Makoto realized the mess he'd just made. “Aah—my pants!” He exclaimed in panic, quickly pulling out a tissue out of its pack he'd brought with him. Haruka spotted a slight hint of blush on Makoto's cheek.

While Makoto was busy scrubbing his trousers, Haruka took the chance to look away. What did he just say? Did he just offer to Makoto that he would cook for him every day like a housewife? At his own thought, heat crept its way around his neck and cheeks.

“A-anyway...” Makoto began again, his palm wrapped around the crumpled tissue, “are you sure about that? Seriously?”

“I don't mind,” Haruka uttered, “I cook every day anyway. It doesn't burden me.”

“Oh, then—“ Makoto smiled enthusiastically, “I will do half the responsibility. I'll do the shopping for ingredients every weekend. What about that?”

Haruka was ready to nod, but he managed to shut his mouth while considered to offer another help. “We can shop together,” he replied, “it will be hard if you choose the ingredients alone.”

“Oh, you're right, but I feel like I'm taking your offer for granted. I would like to do something in return.” Makoto clenched his fist around his chopsticks, looking determined.

“You've already done enough.” Haruka said, and he meant it. Makoto had helped him a lot through his school days, which would probably be unbearable if Makoto wasn't by his side. When Haruka studied Makoto's expression, he knew Makoto didn't think the same way. That look of determination hadn't changed in the slightest.

“Uhh...” Makoto crossed his arms in front of his chest, closing his eyes while frowning.

“If you're really determined to return the favor, then I have a request.” Haruka interrupted his thought. Makoto's eyes snapped open, finding Haruka's and shining in curiosity. “Allow me a full free access to the pool at any time I want to.” Haruka continued.

“Haru! I can't do that!” Makoto exclaimed, looking horrified.

“Then I really don't know what to ask you.” Haruka huffed in disappointment.

“Eeh? Am I that useless to you?” Makoto sighed, his lips twitched to a small smile.

 _The opposite,_ Haruka thought, _I can't believe Makoto is this stupid to think he's useless._

“Haru, may I guess what's on your mind?”

Haruka stared back at Makoto, whose eyes were squinted as he looked at him with pursed lips.

“Stupid Makoto or something like that.” Makoto guessed, waiting for Haruka's approval.

A smile almost broke out from the thin line of Haruka's lips. “True. You're stupid, Makoto.”

“Haru!”

* * *

 

The last subject of the day was one of Haruka's favorites: art. He was required to create any art, either using the gift of the spirit or not. Last week, every student was obligated to create anything with their spiritual gifts, but today was different. The students had to draw a portrait.

Haruka had woven a statue of Iwatobi-chan made of water last week, which did impress the teacher at how very well made it was. Haruka had found out that Iwatobi-chan was actually not a school mascot, but it was an Iwatobi faction's mascot. Samezuka faction had its own mascot: Samezuka-chan, a grinning wide and red shark which seemed to be much more popular than Iwatobi-chan.

For Nanase Haruka, however, Iwatobi-chan was as nice as Samezuka-chan.

Today, in this portrait art session, Haruka had considered drawing a portrait of his grandmother, but he didn't want to ruin his favorite session with unexpected sadness as he would be reminded of her death. Without a prolonged thought, Haruka decided to paint Makoto's portrait instead, and Makoto returned the small gesture by painting Haruka's portrait. Haruka told himself that his decision was made simply because Makoto was the closest to him in this school. It would be weird if he decided to draw another student instead.

“I'm not good with art.” Makoto had warned, “I mean it. I'm sorry if you look ugly on my canvas.”

“It's okay,” Haruka said. He didn't give a care about the quality of his portrait. Makoto was willing to do his best, and whatever the result, Haruka would appreciate it the same.

They'd settled the easels near each other and begun to paint. Haruka couldn't clearly see how the portrait of his face was drawn from this angle, but he could easily catch Makoto's face. As Haruka pressed the tip of his pencil on the canvas to create the basic sketch, he gradually realized that he didn't need to look at Makoto's face in order to draw a portrait of him.

He was amazed by this realization. It felt like he'd drawn Makoto countless times already. Without too much thinking about how he would do it, Haruka let his body do the job. He was impressed at his own self when he easily finished the sketch and began to paint. As Haruka did the mix-up of paints, he strangely knew what were the perfect shades of colors to paint Makoto. Drawing a portrait of Makoto was like something that had been etched in his head for the longest of time. It was something he naturally could do.

Haruka finished faster than the rest of the students. He blinked in awe at his own creation, an almost a perfect portrait of Makoto smiling back at him—eyes gentle and leaf-green, like the April grass field bathed with sunshine. As Haruka stared at Makoto's portrait, his heart beat with a surge of life energy—as if it had stopped for a long time and reawakened again.

_Nanase Haruka._

His own voice echoed in his mind. Haruka held his breath. His water spirit had finally spoken.

_Is he not a part of your soul?_

“What do you mean?” Haruka quickly asked in a whisper. Yet, he no longer received any reply.

“Eh? Haru, are you done?” Makoto suddenly asked, interrupting Haruka's attempt for another monologue. Haruka's face felt hot and his heartbeats had gone erratic when Makoto left his canvas to take a look at his finished portrait. “May I see—“

“Finish yours first.” Haruka promptly stated, trying to use his body to cover his painting from Makoto's curious eyes.

“Oh.” A faint shadow of disappointment crossed Makoto's face, but it was hastily covered with a smile. “Alright. I hope I won't disappoint you with my horrible painting—“

“Just continue.” Haruka said, “Do it whatever way you want.”

“I will.” Makoto chuckled, making his way back toward his easel. Haruka released a breath of relief.

At the end of the session, the whole class ended up admiring Haruka's work. His teacher didn't hesitate to give him an A+ grade for his art. Makoto, however, received a C for his portrait of Haruka. Ignoring Makoto's apology of ruining Haruka's face on canvas, Haruka couldn't help a small smile and a little snort as he saw his deformed face on Makoto's canvas. He looked awfully ugly and disfigured.

“Whoa, Makoto, you may have a talent at abstract painting.” Rin teased, playfully nudging Makoto at the elbow, “This is like an amateur rip-off of Picasso's.”

“Stop insulting me.” Makoto slapped a palm over his face in embarrassment.

“Anyway, Nanase, your painting is absolutely breathtaking.” Rin praised him, flashing a wide grin.

“Right? I was blown away when I saw his work. My portrait looks much better than the real me.” Makoto laughed, giving him a proud look.

 _Makoto must had a mirror that distorted his face in his dorm room,_ Haruka thought, _because Makoto's real face was much more attractive than in this portrait._

At his own thought, Haruka glanced the other way. He silently took Makoto's portrait out of the easel, planning to keep it for himself. If he lived alone, he would be excited to hang this portrait on the wall of his room. It wasn't like Rei would mind. He would most likely express how beautiful Makoto's portrait was, but Haruka still couldn't avoid the tint of embarrassment if he hung this portrait with Rei around.

* * *

 

Like they would do after school, Haruka and Makoto walked back together to the dorm. On their way, they crossed the back garden and the gym with swimming pool. Makoto had to restrain him when Haruka turned his way toward the gym instead of going home. Makoto had told him that there was a swimming club for Haruka to join, but joining a club meant more responsibility to fulfill the club's training schedule. Haruka couldn't just enter and swim in the pool any time and any way he wanted. Haruka was still considering if he should join the club or not.

From a distance, Haruka spotted a small glimpse of an old house hidden behind the abundant trees. The house was located somewhere along the way to the Tree of Protection. Makoto informed him that it was an abandoned house. Rumors said it was an alternative place for the lost and wandering spirits to dwell in. Makoto didn't dare to prove if the rumor was true because he was not fond of wandering spirits. Haruka noticed how Makoto shivered as he shared his knowledge about the rumors regarding the mysterious small house.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Haru.” Makoto said, waving his hand as he walked away from Haruka and toward his dorm.

Haruka lifted his free hand to wave back. His other hand was clutching the portrait of Makoto he'd painted today. Haruka stayed there, watching Makoto's back until he gradually disappeared from sight. After Makoto was away, Haruka entered through the door of his two-story dormitory.

The moment he entered the dorm, Nagisa's voice blared from the kitchen. Haruka closed his eyes in understanding. Nagisa lived in the same dorm as Makoto's, but he often visited Haruka's dorm because of Rei. Every time he visited Rei in his room, they would end up sharing different stories with one another. Nagisa had a broad knowledge about what was going on around the school and was eager to share. He seemed quite fond of Haruka, although he was especially playful when Rei was around.

One thing Haruka didn't like in his dormitory life was the fact that he had to share the kitchen with everyone else who lived in the same building as his. He faced no problem with the shared dining hall, but kitchen had always been his favorite private place back in his house in the other realm.

Haruka felt grateful when he learned that most students didn't bother to cook for themselves. Instead, they would use catering services to satisfy their stomach needs. Haruka, however, enjoyed every time he spent in the kitchen. He was used to cooking every morning and every evening.

“Rei-chan, I want extra sugar in my milk!” Nagisa exclaimed, his voice even more louder coming from the kitchen.

“You're eating too much sweets, Nagisa-kun. Sooner or later you'll be diagnosed with diabetes. You should eat this instead. It's high in fiber and good for maintaining your cholesterol.” Rei's voice was almost as loud.

Rather than spending his time doing nothing, Haruka decided to visit both his juniors in the kitchen. He quietly made his way upstairs, entered his room and carefully placed Makoto's portrait facedown onto his bed before leaving and strolling downstairs. He walked inside the dining hall and easily spotted Rei and Nagisa stirring something in their bowls placed on the kitchen counter.

Nagisa was the first one to realize that they weren't alone. He turned around, waving his hand energetically after his eyes met with Haruka's. “Haru-chan! You're finally home! Where's Mako-chan? He doesn't come here?”

“Makoto-senpai is probably busy, Nagisa-kun. Remember that he's a faction leader.” Rei left his bowl, adjusting his red glasses as he turned to face Haruka. “Haruka-senpai, welcome home.”

“I'm home.” Haruka replied, leaning against one of the kitchen counters.

“Great! Since Haru-chan is already here, I can start this conversation now.” Nagisa lifted his bowl, which consisted of milk and cereals. He grabbed a spoon and was ready to enjoy his meal. “Have you heard the rumor about a ghost in the gazebo at the back garden?”

“A ghost...?” That caught Haruka's interest. The gazebo at the back garden was the place where Makoto usually sang in the night with his instrument.

“Yeah. It is said that recently, almost every night, there's a ghost lingering in the gazebo. Some of my friends have seen it!” Nagisa crunched his cereals and made a loud noise out of them.

“Don't talk with your mouth full!” Rei warned, sounding a little tired.

“Are you sure it's not Makoto?” Haruka asked.

“Mako-chan? No! Practically everyone knows about Mako-chan's habit to visit the garden sometimes and play an instrument. This is a different creature. Like a spirit.”

“A ghost is usually a spirit—“

Nagisa cut off Rei's words, “But that's not the awesome part yet.” Nagisa swayed his index finger, “They said this ghost looks a lot like you, Haru-chan!”

Both Haruka and Rei stood agape in a moment of silence.

“That's probably Haruka-senpai.” Rei said after a blink, pushing his red glasses again.

“No! It looks a lot like Haru-chan, but still different. Its body is transparent.” Nagisa said, “Then again, Haru-chan never left his room at night time after curfew hour, right?”

“Just one time,” Haruka admitted, “before I became a student. I visited Makoto when he played his instrument.”

“Right? This ghost has been there almost every night past curfew.”

“Nagisa-kun, did you just tell us that your 'friends' broke curfew hour almost every night?”

“Eh-heh.” Nagisa tilted his head and smiled innocently, “Putting that aside, isn't it exciting? Aren't you curious about the ghost that looks like you, Haru-chan?” He continued, his magenta eyes sparkling.

“Wait—you did nothing to warn Makoto-senpai?” Rei asked in disbelief.

“What are you talking about, Rei-chan? If Mako-chan knows, he'll definitely freak out. Mako-chan is a scaredy-cat.” Nagisa pouted, “The ghost will do no harm to him. Remember, all areas of this school are protected by the Tree of Protection. There's no evil spirit in this place. All the wandering spirits out there are either good or neutral.”

“You're right, but what if Makoto-senpai sees the ghost?” Rei argued, “He will faint!”

“I don't think Mako-chan will faint if he sees Haru-chan's ghost.” Nagisa winked at Haruka. The blue-eyed teen frowned as he caught a subtle meaning behind the gesture. “At least not instantly. Anyway, what about we start a secret investigation?” Nagisa immediately suggested.

Rei slapped his palm against his forehead. “Nagisa-kun, not your erratic idea again—“

“To save Mako-chan!” Nagisa exclaimed , “We have to shoo that ghost away before Mako-chan notices that there's a ghost in his favorite gazebo. If we tell Mako-chan, he'll be scared to visit the garden forever. If we don't tell him, he'll eventually find out that the gazebo is haunted. If he sees the ghost with his own eyes, he'll probably faint, like you said. The only way to avoid these unwanted outcomes is to kick the ghost out of Mako-chan's way.”

 _A spiritual faction leader of a school of spirits who's afraid of a wandering spirit._ Haruka found the little fact about Makoto to be rather amusing.

“Alright? We'll start the investigation tonight.” Nagisa slammed his empty cereal bowl over the counter. “From today onward, we are IGS—Iwatobi Ghostbuster Squad!”

“You're deciding our team name already?” Rei shook his head and sighed. Haruka and Rei looked at each other. Finally, Rei smiled helplessly and shrugged. Haruka smiled back—a very subtle smile that none of his juniors seemed to notice.

* * *

 

It was fifteen minutes before curfew hour.

Nagisa was busy typing a message for Rei with his phone. Nagisa and Haruka had settled themselves hidden behind the slightly taller bushes of the back garden. From these bushes, they could observe the gazebo which stood in the distance. As usual, the gazebo was empty and brightly lit up.

Haruka's eyes turned half-closed as the gentle breeze caressed his cheeks. The moon was mesmerizing tonight—nearly full and shone in white beauty. Haruka stretched his finger, watching a butterfly flapping its fragile wings over it before deciding to rest its body temporarily on Haruka's finger.

“This is bad.” Nagisa suddenly said, stealing Haruka's attention. He turned to Haruka, showing him a message he'd just received from Rei. “Mako-chan is coming here. I mean—tonight of all nights, he's coming here. With a guitar this time.” He whispered, turning very serious.

“I see.” He let the butterfly flew away, “I understand why Makoto chooses this night.” Tonight was beautiful, not to mention the soft breeze was slightly aromatic as well.

“That's a problem. We have no other choice. Haru-chan,” Nagisa stared at Haruka, “can you please summon the rain? Mako-chan won't come here if it's raining.”

Haruka released a grunt. This night was beautiful—the kind of beauty he could enjoy together with Makoto. The idea of ruining this natural sequence constricted his chest with reluctance. “It's your job too,” Haruka responded, his tone low, “you have to bring the heavy clouds.”

“Aah, you're right. It's not an easy job to do. What should we do? Before we can even begin to summon a drizzle, Mako-chan will arrive here first—“ Nagisa trailed off, closing his mouth shut.

Footsteps filled the windy air.

Haruka and Nagisa instinctively lowered their bodies, lying prone upon the ground and hoping that the bushes would do a good job concealing them. After several seconds, Nagisa dared to lift his head and paid a glance to see who was coming their way. His eyes were opened wide when he faced Haruka. “It's Mako-chan,” he whispered. “What is Rei-chan doing? He's supposed to stop Mako-chan to approach this place!”

“Is someone there?” Makoto's shaky voice entered their ears. Nagisa held his breath, realizing that he'd whispered a little bit too loud. He shut his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Soon, Haruka's hair was ruffled by the breeze, which slowly turned to a more powerful swirl of wind. The wind swept over the garden, rustling the leaves on the trees and the flowers rooted underground.

Haruka and Nagisa hoped that Makoto would assume what he'd just heard was only the wind whistling in the air. Much to their surprise, the footsteps were getting closer toward their current position. “Nagisa?” Makoto asked in hesitation, “Nagisa, is that you?”

Both of them were as still as a pair of statues.

“Nagi—“

“Makoto.”

Haruka's body went stiff. It was his own voice, but unlike when the water spirit was speaking to him, he didn't hear it inside his head. Instead, Nagisa's eyes were blown wide and his mouth gaped open in confusion as he stared at Haruka. The same confusion twirled in Haruka's mind, because he'd just heard his own voice coming from another place.

“Eh? Haru?” Makoto's voice sounded bewildered. “Haru, why are you there? You're breaking the curfew! Wait, did you just turn off the light of the gazebo? Why?”

Haruka could hear Makoto's footsteps going farther away. Nagisa's mouth had parted and closed like fish out of water. “The ghost, Haru-chan. It must be the ghost. It spoke with your voice! We should save Mako-chan before he sees—“

Before Nagisa could even finish his words, Haruka broke out from his hiding place and stood firmly, jerking his body toward the gazebo. If Nagisa didn't warn him before, Haruka would not believe what he'd seen.

It was Haruka himself, standing inside a dark gazebo and smiling at Makoto. It seemed like his body was dripping wet. Haruka couldn't see the ghost's eyes clearly, but one of his eyes shone oceanic blue under the moonlight. The other eye was shadowed by darkness. Actually, from Haruka's angle of vision, half of the ghost's body was concealed by shadows. His faction leader was walking toward the ghost, carrying a guitar and sighing. “Haru, go back to your room. I mean it. I can cut off your points.”

“It's no problem.” The ghost replied, a smirk was now visible across his lips. “Makoto, I've been waiting for you.”

Haruka should interrupt. He should jump in between them, pull Makoto away and tell him that it wasn't Haruka. Yet, his body shook in fear. He was paralyzed. Nagisa had told him that all the wandering spirits in this school were either good or neutral.

Yet, an aura of malice was emanating strongly from the ghost. If the spirits' aura inside people were strong enough for Haruka to sense and recognize, then the aura of a wandering spirit was much more powerful—so sharp that it seemed to seep inside his body, leaving Haruka shuddering with all the tangled emotions.

Bitterness. Hostility. Malice. Hatred. Rage. Impish.

The aura seeped through Haruka like water pouring over his skin. He couldn't think clearly. He felt like a jumbled mess—confused, angry, scared, bitter. He hated the ghostly spirit for giving him such emotions. He hated Nagisa for being loud, impulsive, and annoying. He hated Makoto for being too clingy toward him, trying too hard to act like a leader, accusing Haruka for doing something he didn't do.

He hated Makoto and he wanted him dead.

“Haru,” Makoto finally chuckled toward the ghost, “I really can't predict you. Turn on the light.” He sounded more playful this time, “I guess I can't help it. Perhaps we can sing together tonight and think about the consequences tomorrow.”

Makoto's voice worked like a waterfall, washing Haruka out of his dark mind. He blinked several times, feeling the malice, hatred, anger, and all negative emotions vanished in his heart. The ghost was still there, emanating the same dark aura, but Haruka wasn't affected this time.

He burst out of the bushes and ran toward Makoto, shouting his name. He saw the surprised and confused look on Makoto's face as he grabbed Makoto's wrist tightly in his grasp. “That's not me.” Haruka breathed, “Run, Makoto.”

“What? Haru? Why are you—eeh?” Makoto jerked his head, back and forth between Haru and the spirit of malice who took Haruka's form. “Who are you—wait, _who is that??”_ Makoto shouted. His face was going pale as he clutched Haruka, trying to hide his bigger body behind him.

The ghost chuckled in Haruka's voice as it left the gazebo and approached them. Its body went transparent and began to lose its color. Trickles of water dripped down from its body and dampened the grass.

_Pure, colorless, alive._

_No way._

He was most familiar with this aura. It was the aura of his grandmother. The aura of his mother. It was the aura of water spirit.

Makoto's hand slid its way to Haruka's arm, grabbing him firmly. His earth spirit was going stronger behind him.

The ghost—or more accurately, the personified water spirit—had its eyes fixed against Makoto. It looked like Haruka, made of pure transparent water. “It's me. I've come back for you.” The spirit said, still in Haruka's voice.

Makoto's body went rigid behind Haruka. “Who are you?” Makoto's lips seemed to tremble as he uttered the question, “I don't know you.”

Out of a sudden, a visible sharp gust of wind cut through the personified water spirit, splitting its body by the waist. Haruka turned his head toward the source of the wind. Nagisa was standing in front of the bushes, encircled by a hasty rush of wind. “Haru-chan, Mako-chan, we should eliminate that spirit!” He shouted, “It's an evil spirit!”

After being separated by the wind blade, the spirit gathered itself and took Haruka's form again. Its aura grew thicker and intense, leaving uncomfortable sensations lingering in the air. Makoto finally released his grip on Haruka, lifting his hand to cover his mouth. He looked a little sick.

“Makoto?” Haruka looked up, “Are you okay?”

“I don't know. I feel like... drowning.”

Haruka faced the spirit directly and glared at it. “I don't know who you are,” he said, taking a water bottle out from his loose jacket. He opened the bottle and spilled the content over his palm, shaping it to a sharp-tipped dagger, “But I don't like you taking my form.”

The spirit shifted its gaze toward Haruka and showed a faint impish smile.

Probably the barrier created by the Tree of Protection had weakened, or maybe this evil water spirit had been here longer than he could imagine. Either way, there was something rushing along with Haruka's blood.

An urge to protect Makoto.

This time, Haruka didn't pay further attention at how familiar this feeling was. It felt like he'd always been Makoto's protector, longer than he ever thought.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This fic still has a long way to go. I can only hope you will bear with my writing till the end. Cheers.


	10. Another Spirits and a Part of Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your wonderful comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions! I'm sorry this has taken really long. I was on hiatus and I was having difficulties in returning to my usual writing habit. So, although slowly, I'm still working on my fics.
> 
> As you may have noticed, I've changed the title of this fic. I've decided to merge all parts in this fic into one, so it will no longer be a series. It will be one long fic with multiple arcs. Therefore, to do justice for all the arcs, I've decided to change the title. The first arc is the shortest arc, ended with chapter 6. Chapter 7 is an "interlude", or a bridge between the first and second arc. The second arc is a much longer one and Chapter 8 is the beginning of this second arc.
> 
> That's a bit of information I would like to share. Thank you for reading and I can only hope you enjoy this chapter.

There was a time when Haruka stood exactly like this, arm stretched in front of him, brandishing a weapon made of water. There was a time when he faced his opponent while attempted to protect someone behind him—someone who was very important to him, who supported him in a battle.

There was a time, but Haruka couldn't remember _when._

Not that he could waste another minute to think about that.

Makoto placed a hand again on his shoulder, squeezing tightly. Haruka sensed something ethereal filling him up. At first, he thought it was Makoto's spiritual aura, but that didn't feel right. That something didn't radiate out of Makoto like it usually did, but it flowed like a stream, filling a part of Haruka that—without his previous realization—had been empty.

He didn't know how, but Haruka felt much stronger than before, like he could overcome anything that might come to his path.

Including the malicious water spirit before him.

His shoulder started to get damp before he felt Makoto release his weak grip off it. Makoto coughed beside him, his breaths came out rapidly as he gasped for air. “Makoto?” Haruka turned, finding his friend clutching his own neck and chest.

“Just filling his lungs with water.” The malicious water spirit answered. It was now mimicking Haruka's normal appearance, except its body was dripping wet. “Do you want to join your friend?”

Haruka's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of water pouring out from the earth and rapidly flowed around them from every direction. The garden fountain in the distance broke open with overflowing water. The water moved swiftly in the air to their direction. Haruka extended a hand, trying to control the water. To his surprise, the water kept moving on its own, refusing to surrender either in Haruka's hand or his attempt to connect spiritually to his own element. It only took seconds until both Haruka and Makoto were engulfed and trapped in a water ball.

Although unintelligible, Haruka could hear Nagisa's voice shouting from the outside. His vision caught Nagisa who took a step back and stood firm. Nagisa set both palms in front of his chest in a manner of prayer. Haruka guessed he was trying to call other wind spirits to help them.

Good thing Nagisa was okay, but Makoto, who couldn't breathe underwater, was trapped along with Haruka. In anger, Haruka swung a fist to an edge of the water ball encasing them. He couldn't penetrate it, not that it even budged.

Haruka faced Makoto beside him, anxiety starting to affect the pace of his heartbeat. Makoto was suffocating. One of his hands tightened its grip on his own neck in desperation. Flashes of his battle with Makoto and the water dragon incident came in a rush to his head, distracting him and pushing his state of mind to panic. He should do something quickly, or Makoto would drown before his very eyes.

 _Spirit of water,_ Haruka thought, concentrating and trying to ignore the nervousness and fear swirling in his gut—fear of failure and of losing Makoto. _Release us._

Nothing reacted to him. Not his own spirit nor the water encasing them. Haruka felt like his own ability had been dulled as he couldn't do anything; not even controlling the water with his own hand. The only thing he could do was breathing underwater, which did no good to Makoto.

Then, he heard another shouting from Nagisa.

Out of a sudden, a blast of sharp wind tore the air, cutting through the malicious water spirit and the water ball trapping them both. The water around Haruka and Makoto burst in droplets, scattering in the air and pouring over the dry ground under them.

As they were released, Haruka and Makoto fell in loud thuds. Makoto forcefully coughed water out of his mouth and gasped to take as much air as he could.

Haruka quickly got on his feet. “Makoto!”

“Haru!” Makoto managed to say in his coughing. “Run with Nagisa.”

“I won't do that. Don't underestimate me.” Haruka snapped in annoyance. He shuddered at the presence of malice near him. Some of the water had gathered and reformed as the personified water spirit again. It was still mimicking Haruka's form, and it was now standing several steps near them. He couldn't control the water around them, but his water dagger was still in its perfect form.

Haruka clenched his fist, paid no more attention and began to charge forward with his dagger. The swing of his weapon cut the spirit's neck. Haruka cringed at the awareness that he was slaying a ghost who looked identical to himself. Having its neck cut, the ghost immediately dissolved into water, slid past Haruka, and appeared behind his back in Haruka's uninjured form.

“Hey, Makoto. Do you know how long I've been waiting?” The ghost has its back facing Haruka as it walked toward Makoto, completely ignoring Haruka's presence.

Haruka turned on his heel, stabbing his dagger right through the ghost's heart from behind its back. Instead of injuring it, Haruka's hand alarmed him that his water dagger was being absorbed by the spirit's body. His attacks didn't work the way he wanted. His heart raced and frustration barged in, opening up a space for other negative emotions to fill in. He quickly realized that he'd made himself vulnerable for the malicious spirit to affect him again. Haruka tried to pull his dagger out of its heart, but when his attempt failed, he released the dagger and saw his weapon merged in with the spirit's body and disappeared.

He stared at his empty hand. He was quickly running out of water to forge another weapon. The only water source nearby was the garden fountain, which water had strangely refused to be controlled by Haruka.

“Who are you?” Makoto carefully asked as he stood up and took a step back.

“Haruka.” The spirit answered. Its voice was brief, soft, and quiet, nearly identical to Haruka's.

“Nanase... Haruka?” Makoto paid the real Haruka a confused glance.

“No.” The spirit slowly shook its head, “Just Haruka. One and only name for me.”

“Hey.” Haruka gritted his teeth, obviously annoyed. The ghost had mimicked his form and Haruka wouldn't tolerate it for stealing his name. “Don't take my name—“

“Haru-chan.” Nagisa whispered behind him, startling Haruka with his swift and sudden appearance. He grabbed Haruka's wet shirt to pull him closer. “We should do what Mako-chan told us. He will be okay. Earth absorbs water. Remember, he's a faction leader for many reasons. He's stronger than he looks, so we have to run.”

“Run?” Haruka's eyes widened in disbelief, “And leave Makoto behind?”

“Let me rephrase that—get some help. This evil spirit is a powerful one. Your water will only strengthen it, my wind can only cut it to pieces, only for it to recover again. We need help, and Mako-chan is buying us time.” He gave a tug on Haruka's shirt, persuading him to cooperate.

Haruka cocked his head toward Makoto, finding his green eyes fixed for seconds against his. Those eyes, despite his previously authoritative voice, spoke more gently. The green shone softly under a cast of moonlight, looking at Haruka almost in a manner of begging. Nagisa was probably right. Haruka's only choice was to put faith in Makoto. He clenched his fist, but nodded.

“Hurry up.” Nagisa pulled Haruka along. Haruka's body felt so light when Nagisa did that, as if he was supported by some wind which endured about half of his weight to make him run faster.

“Trying to run away?” Something whispered close to his ear. Haruka's body tensed in surprise. He looked around, but no one was near him except Nagisa. The voice was clearly not Nagisa's. It sounded so much like his own voice—probably the evil spirit's voice. Or could it be his own water spirit? Haruka took a halt, preventing Nagisa to pull him. Haruka turned and saw a powerful stream of water flowing toward them.

Before Haruka and Nagisa could do anything, a line of large, solid roots crawled out of the ground, tangling themselves and forming a high wall before them. The roots blocked the water stream, preventing it to crash against them. Haruka felt spiritual energy kept building up within the roots, as if they were greedily absorbing the water to turn it to energy.

“See?” Nagisa exhaled in relief, “Mako-chan can handle this for now. He will be okay.” He winked at Haruka. The taller man could see drops of sweat drenching Nagisa's face. “Mako-chan is in the garden, a supportive battle environment for his element. He won't lose, but we should find someone to aid him as soon as possible.”

_Earth absorbs water. It doesn't close up a possibility that earth spirit could create spiritual energy out of water element._

Haruka nodded in determination. “Makoto, wait there. We'll come back.” He said, as if Makoto could hear his quiet voice from the distance they've made. He took Nagisa's arm and rushed to the dorm building.

As they ran, Haruka contemplated at how hopeless and weak he was. He was supposed to protect Makoto, or so the voice at the back of his mind kept pressuring him. Yet it was Nagisa who saved them. Now he was running away, leaving Makoto behind with a malicious spirit who seemed to set its target on Makoto. In the end, Haruka couldn't do anything, while Makoto did protect both Haruka and Nagisa.

How pathetic was that? He was practically useless. Haruka was shuddering when the thoughts began to consume him.

“Haru-chan!” Nagisa shouted beside him, causing Haruka to snap out of his mind and almost jump in surprise. Nagisa stopped running, caught his breath, and landed a hard slap on both Haruka's cheeks with his palms. His magenta eyes fixed straight against Haruka's, his palms putting pressure on the other's cheeks. “Don't think about anything. I could feel that evil spirit has implanted unworthy thoughts in your head, and you have to kick them out, Haru-chan.”

Haruka blinked as his mind went clearer. His self-hatred drifted to void. He wasn't running away. He was getting some help. It was just another way to protect Makoto. It didn't mean he was a coward, and all he had to do was practice to become stronger. Haruka breathed a heavy sigh, closed his eyes, trying to organize his mind. A vision of water dragon summoned by his water spirit days ago flashed in his memory.

_You have more potentials than you always thought._

Those were the words of his late-grandmother, spoken a long time ago—at a time Haruka could no longer remember. His rapid heartbeat began to slow its rhythm. He snapped his eyes open, facing Nagisa with a subtle smile. “Thank you... Nagisa.”

The smaller blonde grinned and nodded. Haruka lifted his hand, gently ruffling Nagisa's hair with his palm. He didn't know when exactly he'd started to develop a soft spot for Nagisa.

In a moment, Nagisa's eyes seemed to sparkle. “Hey, I know. Let's find Rei-chan. Let's come back to Mako-chan as a full team of IGS.”

“IGS.” Haruka repeated, staring blankly at Nagisa.

“Iwatobi Ghostbuster Squad. Haru-chan, how can you forget so easily?”

“Ah, sorry.” Haruka said, finding difficulties to focus. There was something else that kept bothering him ever since they were still in the garden. He thought about his inability to control the water, how his hand couldn't even take a handful of water like usual, let alone control it without physical aid. Had he started to lose his spiritual ability? Was something like that possible? Could his water spirit detach itself from Haruka and leave him forever?

“Haru-chan, you mind's drifting off again!” Nagisa warned, pulling Haruka to keep running.

“Sorry.” Haruka muttered. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He shouldn't dawdle. “Let's continue—“

“Rei-chan!” Nagisa enthusiastically exclaimed once they made a turn at the corridor, pointing to the front. “I see Rei-chan!”

Haruka followed Nagisa's pointed finger, finding Rei standing several meters away before them. Rei was facing the wall, staring at them with horrified look ghosted across his face.

“Nagisa-kun! Haruka-senpai!”

Rei's familiar voice echoed throughout the hallway. Despite his enthusiasm, Nagisa sauntered forward, smiling widely as he took his time appraising his best friend. “What are you doing there?”

“I'm sorry. I was supposed to stop Makoto-senpai from entering the garden but before I could operate my plan, Makoto-senpai saw me first. He said what I was doing was suspicious, and it was almost curfew hour. He asked me to stand facing the wall and stay here until he comes back.” Rei's hand was trembling as he explained, his fingers attached to the lower parts of his glasses frame. “It's so embarrassing that you see me like this—getting detention like an elementary schooler!” He frustratedly grabbed his blue hair and whined to the air.

Nagisa burst out laughing, but he immediately swallowed his laughter down the throat. Perhaps Nagisa sensed a kind of dark aura Haruka had unconsciously emanated behind him. He cleared his throat. “You can move now, Rei-chan. Come with us to the garden. There's an evil spirit, and Mako-chan needs our help.”

* * *

 

This water spirit was more dangerous than Makoto had previously assumed.

Makoto's body crashed against the rough, dry ground. He coughed, a thin stream of liquid trickled from the corner of his lips and dampened the ground. He thought it was water, but when Makoto wiped it with the back of his hand, he realized it was thicker than mere water. It was blood.

He tried to get up, but his legs betrayed him. He lost his balance and fell on his knees. Blood spilled out of the gashes on his legs. There was something wrong with him. Makoto couldn't stop trembling. His mind went hazy and unfocused. He was scared. He didn't find the strength to move his arms. They dangled uselessly at his sides. He knew he should heal himself, but he was lacking spiritual energy. This water spirit was surprisingly powerful, and it had sucked all of Makoto's spiritual energy out of his being throughout the battle. It sucked water out of his plants, the soil and the ground, until they turned dry and cracked, gradually perished.

“Are you trembling? Is that fear I sense from you? Of what? Of ghost, or death? Or probably... water?”

The water spirit appeared beside him, materializing from misty air. Its blue eyes were calm as they gazed on Makoto, just like Haruka's.

“Hey, Makoto.”

Haruka's voice whispered the name softly near his ear. It awakened a faint electricity in his body, leaving him shuddering. Makoto tilted his head slightly, uselessly trying to keep his distance.

“Makoto.” The water spirit repeated, “If you fear ghost, death, and water, I know the perfect way to your funeral.” Its hand landed on Makoto's olive-brown hair, fingers running through the soft strands of it, playfully twirling a strand. “Look up.”

Makoto half-consciously obeyed him, lifting his gaze slowly to the open air.

A huge water dragon was in front of him, its head baring sharp fangs inches away from Makoto. Its body made up a great length, encircling them and covering Makoto's vision to look further behind the dragon. The size of its mouth could swallow him whole. It was a water dragon identical to the one Haruka had summoned a while ago in Spiritual Combat class. Makoto's mouth slightly parted, life dimmed in his green eyes.

“Perfect, isn't it? Fear not.” Haruka, or the water spirit, left its fingers off the strands of his hair and moved it to lift Makoto's chin a little, forcing his head to tilt and face Haruka. “It won't kill you now. I've been waiting for so long—too long to waste your life now. How many years have passed, I wonder? I do not know time. Time keeps coming, yet it keeps leaving you behind. Time changes and kills many things, but I like you, because you don't change with each passing of time. I really like that.”

“I don't understand.” Makoto could only manage a weak voice that swiftly wavered in the stillness of air. “I don't know.” The water spirit kept acting like it had known Makoto for long. Makoto didn't have the slightest clue or memory of this water spirit that looked like Haruka.

The fingers that grabbed his chin felt cold and surreal, almost like a touch of nightmare that it sent chills down his spine. At the same time, the fingers were solid. It left uncomfortable sensation from his chin, down his throat, to his chest and fell to the stomach.

“Haru.”

It sounded like Makoto's voice, except the name didn't roll off from his tongue. From the corner of his eye, Makoto sensed another spirit. This time, the feeling was oddly familiar. It was unmistakably an earth spirit, and it was approaching them. Haruka hadn't released his fingers off Makoto, but its attention had shifted toward the source of the voice.

Makoto could see his own self, penetrating through the water dragon and made its way safely in front of them. “Let's go back, Haru.” The earth spirit said in Makoto's voice. The same like the water spirit which had mimicked Haruka's form, this earth spirit had taken Makoto's appearance.

“Makoto.” The water spirit finally released him.

“He's weak.” The earth spirit stated, with a gentle smile and soft gaze of his droopy forest green eyes. “He's still too weak for you right now. You're being cruel, Haru-chan. There's no point in fighting him. Let's just go.” It chuckled, extending a hand.

“Drop the '-chan'.” Haruka said, taking the other's hand. It turned to Makoto, eyes shimmering in ocean blue shade as moonlight fell on them. “See you again, Makoto. Next time, we'll probably kill you against our will.”

Both spirits vanished into thin air in front of Makoto's eyes. The water dragon had moved to the sky and began to crumble, slowly falling apart all over the garden as gentle rain.

Makoto was still kneeling in the same position, feeling numb on his entire body. His gaze drifted away to nowhere in particular, barely taking any sight of death all around him. From the blurry vision he could see the dead trees, cracked ground, dry brownish flowers.

The entire garden was dead within a short period of time. Makoto couldn't protect the once living beings that had livened up his days and nights, sent him sweet fresh breeze, comforted him with their presence. He had lost his safe haven. They were dead, but Makoto was alive.

There was a wild flower beside him.

Makoto's head tilted to the side, staring at the wild flower. A dandelion, once full of color with beautiful florets, now pale and wrinkled that it could easily crushed with the tips of gentlest touch. Makoto forced himself to shift, his fingers from both hands dug through the cracked damp ground surrounding the flower. Makoto carefully lifted the flower with its roots still planted in the earth within his palms.

“...I'm sorry.” He whispered, voice barely audible. Not that anyone would ever hear him. He watched raindrops landed over its dead petals and florets, too late to bring it back to life. “...'m sorry.” He repeated, half his words stuck in his throat. He looked around the dead surrounding.

There was insignificant warmth rolling down the skin of his cheeks. Maybe they were raindrops, from the warm water sucked out of the plants. Maybe they were tears. He couldn't tell as his senses had been dull.

From a distance, Makoto heard voices calling his name.

“Makoto!”

“Mako-chan!”

“Makoto-senpai!”

He returned the dandelion back to its place. It didn't take long until hasty footsteps were heard and human bodies began to surround him. Haruka's hands grabbed his arms. They were all calling his name, speaking things he couldn't decipher. The voices confused him. They rang in his ears, hurting his head. His vision blurred even more, darkness was lurking at the corner before it showed up and took over his vision.

* * *

 

The first thing that took Haruka's attention was the gentle rain.

Then, once they made their way outside, they stopped short, shocked at the sight of dry, lifeless garden, like it had been long abandoned and being left to perish.

But one sight that filled him most with dread was one of Makoto, kneeling on the dry ground, bleeding, holding a dead flower. In that split moment, Haruka regretted his decision to put faith in Makoto. He regretted his decision to run away. He shouldn't run, he should have fought alongside Makoto from beginning to end, supporting and protecting him. Whatever the outcome, Haruka would at least be free of guilt that was building up and crashing down within his chest right now.

They all called his name, rushing to his sides. Along with rain water, blood was oozing out of the gashes on Makoto's legs and arms. He coughed blood, eyelashes fluttered to close. Haruka could hardly see the green of Makoto's irises, not the lively and cheerful, nor the gentle vibes on them. They were dull, lacking energy and sense of life. Haruka's breath caught up on his throat, but then he let out a small sigh of relief when he could still sense Makoto's elemental spirits emanating from him, although the aura was weak, but it was there. At least Makoto was alive.

However, not even a single drop of spiritual energy was left in him.

How could that be? What kind of monster he'd fought, that it could suck dry the garden, injuring Makoto, and took out all of Makoto's spiritual energy? Probably they had all underestimated the malicious water spirit. Haruka felt nausea in his gut. How could he leave Makoto alone with such monster?

“Makoto-senpai!” Rei called, lightly slapping his cheek to rouse him back to consciousness. “No good. He fainted.”

“Why didn't Mako-chan heal himself?” Nagisa asked in panic, trying to stop the bleeding on Makoto's leg with his vest.

“He couldn't.” Haruka answered with trembling voice, but he didn't realize it. “There's no spiritual energy left in him. Nagisa, Rei. Help me take Makoto to the infirmary.”

As they tried to hold Makoto and carefully take him inside, Haruka wasn't even aware that the rain had stopped. It could no longer hold his attention the moment Haruka laid eyes on Makoto.

* * *

 

“These gashes were probably caused by dry plants, like rough pieces of tree barks.” Rei recalled, fixing his red glasses on his eyes. “That's what the doctor has told me.”

“Mako-chan got hurt by plants? I thought he's immune.” Nagisa stood beside the infirmary bed where Makoto was lying onto. He was still unconscious, but the doctor had convinced the three panicking students that their faction leader would be okay.

“Nagisa-kun, the plants didn't matter in this case. The tips of dry tree barks can be sharp, and that sharpness caused injuries.” Rei answered as he yawned. He looked tired and sleepy. They had lost track of time, but Haruka was pretty sure it was already late. Probably midnight. Curfew hour was their last concern, so nobody bothered to ask or even paid attention.

“It's strange.” Haruka finally said. He was quiet the whole time, but even the doctor noticed that Haruka was actually a hurricane behind the layers of his calm demeanor. She kept saying that Makoto would be okay, and most of the time, they were especially directed toward Haruka. “How did a water spirit injure Makoto with materials of his own element? I mean, the water spirit shouldn't be able to control plants.”

“Maybe it could control the plants, with water.” Nagisa's arms folded in front of his chest.

“Should we even mention that garden? It was barren within minutes. I think the first thing that water spirit did was absorbing all the water from every source as well as Makoto-senpai's spiritual energy. When Makoto-senpai became defenseless, it shouldn't be hard to injure him with anything. Remember when we found him? He seemed to be in shock, barely recognizing our presence. That alone made him vulnerable.” Rei sighed, glancing toward Haruka.

Haruka looked away, his thoughts entangled in disarray. Could his water spirit also do something dangerous like that? Did that mean his presence might be dangerous for Makoto? He'd injured Makoto once in class. Makoto referred that as normal, it was an accident. But how many more 'accidents' would Haruka cause?

“I think things like this can only happen with water and earth spirits, huh? I didn't realize that until now.” Nagisa stared down at his fidgeting fingers. “Absorbing one another's element. Sucking them dry or giving them life, supporting or destroying.”

Haruka thought about that brief moment when Makoto placed a hand on his shoulder, transferring his spiritual energy. He wondered what kind of energy Makoto gave him. Whatever it was, it made Haruka felt stronger than ever. Yet in the end, Haruka didn't accomplish anything.

“Can I do the same?” He asked, gulping. “Like... transferring spiritual energy for Makoto?” Haruka hesitated before gently taking Makoto's limp hand, lifting it up and wrapped it with both his palms. Haruka closed his eyes, concentrating. He just begged to whichever spirit that wanted to hear and help him transfer his spiritual energy.

The spirits responded with nothing. Haruka didn't feel any spiritual energy coming out of his hand, either. Disappointment soon replaced a fragile hope.

“Not possible.” Rei answered, “Well, you can, with water. You give water to Makoto-senpai, and he'll use a little energy to absorb that water from you and turn it into spiritual energy. But transferring it just like that, by touching, I don't think that's possible.”

“But Makoto did that to me.” Haruka said, immediately seizing attentions from both his juniors. “He did that to me when we faced that evil spirit together.”

“...How?” Nagisa blinked, trying to recall the event.

“He put a hand on my shoulder.” Haruka muttered, “Then I was filled with spiritual energy.”

Silence took over the air, leaving stillness in the atmosphere. Nagisa was the first one to break the silence. “...What?”

“That kind of thing is illogical.” Rei shook his head, “No. that's not possible, unless...”

“...unless, you and Mako-chan are... _that._ ” Nagisa gave a tug on Haruka's shirt.

“But such things no longer exist, Nagisa-kun.” Rei slapped a hand on Nagisa's shoulder.

“Who said it doesn't exist anymore?” Nagisa countered, “Haru-chan, I think you and Mako-chan may be soulmates.”

Haruka's blue eyes were blank, full of silent questions, but none of them made their way out of his mouth. He'd heard about soulmates, in books or on TV. The term 'soulmates' was well associated with romantic love, something Haruka didn't and probably wouldn't ever have. He'd heard couples saying they're soulmates, or singles saying they hadn't met their soulmate yet.

“It's stupid.” Haruka finally voiced out an opinion.

“It's not stupid. It's dangerous.” Nagisa said, suddenly turning serious. “Do you even know what soulmates are?”

Haruka raised an eyebrow, seemingly confused. He kept staring at Nagisa, waiting for the smaller blonde to explain. This reaction was not expected by either Nagisa or Rei. The juniors took a glance at each other with mouth parted open, their eyes widening in disbelief. Almost simultaneously, they both turned to Haruka.

“Soulmates are,” Rei cleared his throat before continuing, “literally half part of your soul. I have zero knowledge about the definition of soulmates in your previous world, Haruka-senpai, but please allow me to explain. In this world of the spirits, soulmates are two souls, halves of each other, one whole. Usually they are two souls who are the vessels of two different spirits. The spirits of soulmates never contradict, they are often heavily related and can support each other. Like your water spirit and Makoto-senpai's earth spirit.

“Then, what's special about soulmates is they can merge their spirits. They can also instantly and conveniently transfer spiritual energy to each other. Soulmates made double spirits. You may think of Seijuuro-senpai, but he's different. Seijuuro-senpai's spirits are a powerful one and a weaker one. A sun spirit and spirit wolf. Each spirit can't reach its fullest potential because both spirits only have one limited vessel, which is Seijuuro-senpai's soul. Soulmates, however, have two vessels, each may contain a powerful spirit. These two souls, when they are met, may become one as a third vessel, which can contain two spirits merged in their fullest potential. In the past, soulmates are sometimes legally killed because they're considered deadly.”

“Don't worry about the last part,” Nagisa said, “if you and Mako-chan are indeed soulmates, we promise to zip our lips.” He made a gesture of pressing his thumb and index finger together, gliding them over his lips.

“It's a thing of a legend.” Rei explained, “Most students here believe soulmates don't exist anymore. They're just a story. Other theory convinced us that all soulmates were wiped clear in the past. I didn't believe soulmates exist, until... I consider to believe it's true, based on what you've told me about Makoto-senpai transferring his spiritual energy by touch.”

“So that means Haru-chan and Mako-chan are legendary souls! So cool!”

“Nagisa-kun! Don't shout, somebody may hear you!” Rei pressed a finger on his lips, gesturing Nagisa to keep quiet. “You're unbelievable. I think we should go back to our room now. It's already late.”

Nagisa let out an incomprehensible murmur of protest, but relented when Rei pulled his arm. “You too, Haruka-senpai. Let's go to our room. The later we go back, more of our points will get reduced.”

“You go.” Haruka said quietly, careful not to wake Makoto up. “I'll stay here.”

“Haruka-senpai.” Rei kept silent for a moment before he nodded. “Okay.”

Even after Rei and Nagisa had left the infirmary, Haruka's palms were still holding Makoto's warm hand. He thought about the time when Makoto was singing in the gazebo and staying together with him throughout the night. How Haruka felt like half-filled glass. Makoto's presence was like water, ready to pour over that glass and fulfill him. His presence was like a discovery of a missing puzzle piece that hadn't been placed in its position. Haruka remembered those times when he felt strangely empty and couldn't figure out what he was missing.

Then, the words he heard yesterday from his own water spirit in the art class, right after he'd finished a painting of Makoto's portrait.

_Is he not a part of your soul?_

Suddenly, everything clicked, falling together into place.

If Rei's story about soulmates is true, then Makoto might be his soulmate. He was a missing part of Haruka's soul—that his existence made him feel strange. Empty, yet ready to be fulfilled.

_Isn't it too late for you to realize that now?_

Haruka unconsciously drew a sharp breath. It was his water spirit again, its voice filled his head. “You've known all this time, but you didn't tell me.” Haruka whispered, soft enough to not be heard by anyone nearby. They might not be alone in this place. Maybe there was a wandering spirit, maybe the doctor was still staying here somewhere, eavesdropping them. Haruka strangely couldn't feel safe in this infirmary.

 _This matter is something you have to figure out on your own,_ his water spirit said.

Before Haruka could reply, he felt Makoto's body shifted. Haruka let go of his hand, placing it carefully beside Makoto. He saw the other's eyelashes fluttered until they opened the green eyes hidden under them. Those eyes were only half opened, looking around to identify the surroundings. When they met Haruka's gaze, Makoto blinked, trying to refocus his vision.

“Haru...?”

Haruka nodded and whispered, “It's me...” He paused, then continued, “Nanase Haruka.” He tried to convince Makoto, worrying if Makoto would think of him as the evil spirit that had stolen both his name and his form.

“Are you okay...?” Makoto asked, forcing himself to get up. Haruka caught his arms, preventing him to move and pushing him back to lie down. “Where's Nagisa... and Rei? Are they okay, too? Rei—I left him—“

“They're fine. I'm fine. You should rest, Makoto.” Haruka cut his words, then bit his lip. That should be Haruka's line, but Makoto was still worrying about others—about Haruka and Nagisa who had run away, about Rei who was left standing in the hallway. He wasn't worried about himself, who was badly injured. Haruka tried to suppress his annoyance. Inhaling a deeper breath, he attempted to push Makoto to lie down again, this time more gently. Makoto gave in.

“I'm sorry, Haru.”

_What for? For protecting me and Nagisa? You're talking nonsense._

Haruka didn't let a single word slip out of his mouth, swallowing them back along with a tint of anger. Anger at Makoto and his own self.

 _What happened?_ Haruka wanted to ask, but never let his tongue craft the question. He knew what happened. Makoto was injured and defeated. The garden was sucked dry. The evil spirit vanished somewhere. He didn't have the heart to squeeze more information out of Makoto. When they found him, Makoto was kneeling there, face pale, his eyes lacking their usual shine. Whatever had happened, it was shocking for Makoto. It was probably a traumatizing experience, and the last thing Haruka wanted was for Makoto to recall the event again to tell him what has happened.

“I'm sorry.” Makoto repeated. Haruka could almost hear his own heart ripping.

“What for?” The question slipped without Haruka's careful control.

“For being scared.” Makoto was trembling a little, but soon his body calmed down.

“Stupid... Makoto.” Haruka couldn't help saying it, feeling his body shaking. “Stupid...”

_Of course you were scared. It's only normal._

“I was scared...” Makoto covered his face with his shaky palm, “of water.”

Haruka didn't expect that. He stared at Makoto, waiting for more explanation. Yet, Makoto didn't say anything more. Makoto's palm slid down his face and he lightly shook his head. Then he turned to face Haruka, smiling amiably.

“Forget what I've just said. Thank you for saving me, Haru.”

_I didn't save you. You saved me. I didn't do anything._

“That water spirit... it was really powerful. I was surprised.” Makoto began, his hand rubbing one of his injured arms. Blood oozed out of his wounds, dampening the bandage that had been wrapped around his arms. The smile began to leave his face. Haruka noticed the small change on Makoto's expression. Maybe he could ask Makoto for details later, but now he should alter the conversation elsewhere.

“Makoto,” Haruka called. “Back then, I couldn't control the water.” He admitted, “It was like I had lost the ability to shape them with my own hands. Do you... know why...?” He knew he'd picked a wrong topic, as it was still related to the incident, but at least it gained Makoto's attention and brought a bit of light into his dull eyes. Yet, with each spoken word, anxiety grew deeper in Haruka.

Back then, when Haruka still lived in the other world, he'd wanted to lose his ability. He counted his water spirit as a curse rather than a blessing. But now everything had changed. He was glad to possess the water spirit. He couldn't pinpoint when this new feeling of gratefulness had replaced his previous hatred toward his own ability. Now the idea of losing his ability haunted him. His water spirit had just spoken to him, but he couldn't stop worrying about what had happened back then when it refused to function.

Makoto's gaze fell upon Haruka's hand, which had formed a fist. It was shaking, probably out of insecurity and frustration. Makoto's bigger hand raised up, gently covering his fist. The edge of his thumb caressed Haruka's clenched fingers. The gesture was small and subtle, but Haruka finally loosened up, feeling soothed.

“You don't need to worry.” Makoto curved a warm smile, “That means the water had been controlled by that evil spirit. I can explain more, if you want. There are several kinds of spirits. Some powerful ones are contagious. These certain kinds have the ability to affect their surrounding, persuading the neutral spirits to follow their way. Which means,” Makoto carefully released Haruka's hand, which had stopped shaking, “some evil spirits can turn neutral spirits to evil, and good spirits can turn the neutral into good.”

“Does that mean...” Haruka stopped, followed by a nod from Makoto. The brunet seemed to have guessed what Haruka was concerned about.

“The water refused to be controlled by you, because they've been controlled by another spirits, either that water spirit who looked like you, or another spirits which had been turned evil. That way, you couldn't control any water that was previously out of your grasp. Maybe you couldn't even connect to the other spirits.”

“So it's not because my ability has been dulled.” Haruka said.

Makoto nodded. “I'm not sure if this is a good news or a bad one for you. But the spirit inside you, which has already been there ever since your birth, won't ever leave your body until you die.”

“I see.” Haruka said, relieved. He was glad—so glad. For Haruka, it was definitely good news. Haruka knew that Makoto had realized this, because his smile widened. Haruka looked away, trying to hide the small blush on his cheek. There were so many questions piling up in his head. He wanted to ask Makoto if he knew about soulmates, if he was aware that Haruka might be his soulmate. He wanted to know if the rumor about sky spirit was true, if Makoto also knew about that. He was curious about the presence of that evil spirit. Why the spirit was targeting Makoto, and why there was an evil spirit in an area that was supposed to be safe.

He wondered if the Tree of Protection had lost its power or had been corrupted.

But that night, he decided not to express his selfish thirst for information. They talked about many things, sharing some stories. None of them mentioned about the dead garden, the sky spirit, or the evil water spirit, or anything that had been revealed tonight. They kept their conversation light. Haruka refused to go back to his room, and Makoto learned how stubborn Haruka could be. At the same time, Haruka learned how manipulative Makoto could be if he wanted to. Haruka was unfazed about the consequences of his points being cut, but when Makoto mentioned about him being restricted to ever visit the pool, Haruka was ready to give up and leave the room.

Makoto stopped him, saying that it was okay for tonight if Haruka wanted to stay. So Haruka stayed, taking another vacant bed beside Makoto. Haruka kept an eye on Makoto after the brunet had fallen asleep.

Before he was too sleepy, Haruka meditated for half an hour until it was raining.

He watched the water drops roll against the glass window, hoping that the rain he'd summoned could at least save a life in the dead garden. At least a life that might have been left unnoticed, but not yet perished.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm most active on Tumblr. Feel free to visit me at [gariell.tumblr.com](http://gariell.tumblr.com/).


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